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THE  MAN-EATERS  OF  TSAVO 


MACMILLAN   AND   CO.,    LIMITED 

LONDON  .  BOMBAY  .  CALCUTTA 
MELBOURNE 

THE   MACMILLAN   COMPANY 

NEW  YORK   .    BOSTON   .    CHICAGO 
ATLANTA     ,    SAN    FRANCISCO 

THE  MACMILLAN   CO.  OF  CANADA,    LTD. 

TORONTO 


IIKADS    OF    EIGHT    LIONS    SHOT    BY    THE    AUTHOR    IN    BRITISH    HAST   AFRICA. 


THE   MAN-EATERS 
OF  TSAVO 


AND 


Other   £ast  African  Adventures 


BY 

LIEUT.-COL.  J.  H.    PATTERSON,   D.S.O. 

WITH    A    FOREWORD    BY 

FREDERICK   COURTENEY   SELOUS 


Wl TH    ILL  USTRA  TION^ 


MACMILLAN  AND  CO.,  LIMITED 

ST.  MARTIN'S  STREET,  LONDON 

1907 


RICHARD  CLAY  AND  SONS,  LIMITED, 

BREAD  STREET  HILL,  E.G.,  AND 

BUNGAY,  SUFFOLK. 


First  Edition..  October,  1907. 
Reprinted,  November  and  December,  1907. 


PREFACE 

IT  is  with  feelings  of  the  greatest  diffidence  that 
I  place  the  following  pages  before  the  public  ;  but 
those  of  my  friends  who  happen  to  have  heard  of 
my  rather  unique  experiences  in  the  wilds  have  so 
often  urged  me  to  write  an  account  of  my  adventures, 
that  after  much  hesitation  I  at  last  determined  to 
do  so. 

I  have  no  doubt  that  many  of  my  readers,  who 
have  perhaps  never  been  very  far  away  from  civilisa- 
tion, will  be  inclined  to  think  that  some  of  the 
incidents  are  exaggerated.  I  can  only  assure  them 
that  I  have  toned  down  the  facts  rather  than  other- 
wise, and  have  endeavoured  to  write  a  perfectly 
plain  and  straightforward  account  of  things  as  they 
actually  happened. 

It  must  be  remembered  that  at  the  time  these 
events  occurred,  the  conditions  prevailing  in  British 
East  Africa  were  very  different  from  what  they  are 
to-day.  The  railway,  which  has  modernised  the  aspect 


viii  PREFACE 

of  the  place  and  brought  civilisation  in  its  train,  was 
then  only  in  process  of  construction,  and  the  country 
through  which  it  was  being  built  was  still  in  its 
primitive  savage  state,  as  indeed,  away  from  the 
railway,  it  still  is. 

If  this  simple  account  of  two  years'  work  and  play 
in  the  wilds  should  prove  of  any  interest,  or  help 
even  in  a  small  way  to  call  attention  to  the  beautiful 
and  valuable  country  which  we  possess  on  the 
Equator,  I  shall  feel  more  than  compensated  for  the 
trouble  I  have  taken  in  writing  it. 

I  am  much  indebted  to  the  Hon.  Mrs.  Cyril  Ward, 
Sir  Guilford  Molesworth,  K.C.I. E.,  Mr.  T.  J. 
Spooner  and  Mr.  C.  Rawson  for  their  kindness  in 
allowing  me  to  reproduce  photographs  taken  by 
them.  My  warmest  thanks  are  also  due  to  that 
veteran  pioneer  of  Africa,  Mr.  F.  C.  Selous,  for 
giving  my  little  book  so  kindly  an  introduction 
to  the  public  as  is  provided  by  the  "  Foreword  " 
which  he  has  been  good  enough  to  write. 

J.    H.   P. 

August,  1907. 


FOREWORD 

IT  was  some  seven  or  eight  years  ago  that  I 
first  read,  in  the  pages  of  The  Field  newspaper,  a 
brief  account  written  by  Col.  J.  H.  Patterson,  then 
an  engineer  engaged  on  the  construction  of  the 
Uganda  Railway,  of  the  Tsavo  man-eating  lions. 

My  own  long  experience  of  African  hunting  told 
me  at  once  that  every  word  in  this  thrilling  narrative 
was  absolutely  true.  Nay  more  :  I  knew  that  the 
author  had  told  his  story  in  a  most  modest  manner, 
laying  but  little  stress  on  the  dangers  he  had  run 
when  sitting  up  at  nights  to  try  and  compass  the 
death  of  the  terrible  man-eaters,  especially  on  that 
one  occasion  when  whilst  watching  from  a  very  light 
scaffolding,  supported  only  by  four  rickety  poles,  he 
was  himself  stalked  by  one  of  the  dread  beasts. 
Fortunately  he  did  not  lose  his  nerve,  and  suc- 
ceeded in  shooting  the  lion,  just  when  it  was  on  the 
point  of  springing  upon  him.  But  had  this  lion 
approached  him  from  behind,  I  think  it  would  pro- 


FOREWORD 


bably  have  added  Col.  Patterson  to  its  long  list 
of  victims,  for  in  my  own  experience  I  have  known 
of  three  instances  of  men  having  been  pulled  from 
trees  or  huts  built  on  platforms  at  a  greater 
height  from  the  ground  than  the  crazy  structure 
on  which  Col.  Patterson  was  watching  on  that  night 
of  terrors. 

From  the  time  of  Herodotus  until  to-day,  lion 
stories  innumerable  have  been  told  and  written.  I 
have  put  some  on  record  myself.  But  no  lion  story 
I  have  ever  heard  or  read  equals  in  its  long- 
sustained  and  dramatic  interest  the  story  of  the 
Tsavo  man-eaters  as  told  by  Col.  Patterson.  A 
lion  story  is  usually  a  tale  of  adventures,  often  very 
terrible  and  pathetic,  which  occupied  but  a  few 
hours  of  one  night ;  but  the  tale  of  the  Tsavo  man- 
eaters  is  an  epic  of  terrible  tragedies  spread  out 
over  several  months,  and  only  at  last  brought  to 
an  end  by  the  resource  and  determination  of  one 
man. 

It  was  some  years  after  I  read  the  first  account 
published  of  the  Tsavo  man-eaters  that  I  made  the 
acquaintance  of  President  Roosevelt.  I  told  him 
all  I  remembered  about  it,  and  he  was  so  deeply 
interested  in  the  story — as  he  is  in  all  true  stories 
of  the  nature  and  characteristics  of  wild  animals — 
that  he  begged  me  to  send  him  the  short  printed 
account  as  published  in  The  Field.  This  I  did  ; 


FOREWORD  xi 


and  it  was  only  in  the  last  letter  I  received  from 
him  that,  referring  to  this  story,  President  Roose- 
velt wrote  :  "  I  think  that  the  incident  of  the 
Uganda  man-eating  lions,  described  in  those  two 
articles  you  sent  me,  is  the  most  remarkable 
account  of  which  we  have  any  record.  It  is  a 
great  pity  that  it  should  not  be  preserved  in  per- 
manent form."  Well,  I  am  now  glad  to  think  that 
it  will  be  preserved  in  permanent  form ;  and  I 
venture  to  assure  Col.  Patterson  that  President 
Roosevelt  will  be  amongst  the  most  interested 
readers  of  his  book. 

It  is  probable  that  the  chapters  recounting  the 
story  of  the  Tsavo  man-eating  lions  will  be  found 
more  absorbing  than  the  other  portions  of  Col. 
Patterson's  book ;  but  I  think  that  most  of  his 
readers  will  agree  with  me  that  the  whole  volume  is 
full  of  interest  and  information.  The  account  given 
by  Col.  Patterson  of  how  he  overcame  all  the 
difficulties  which  confronted  him  in  building  a  strong 
and  permanent  railway  bridge  across  the  Tsavo 
river  makes  excellent  reading  ;  whilst  the  courage  he 
displayed  in  attacking,  single-handed,  lions, 
rhinoceroses  and  other  dangerous  animals  was  sur- 
passed by  the  pluck,  tact  and  determination  he 
showed  in  quelling  the  formidable  mutiny  which 
once  broke  out  amongst  his  native  Indian  workers. 

Finally,  let  me  say  that    I    have  spent   the   best; 


xii  FOREWORD 

part  of  two  nights  reading  the  proof-sheets  of  Col. 
Patterson's  book,  and  I  can  assure  him  that  the 
time  passed  like  magic.  My  interest  was  held  from 
the  first  page  to  the  last,  for  I  felt  that  every  word 
I  read  was  true. 

F.  C.  SELOUS. 
WORPLESDON,  SURREY. 
September  18,  1907. 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER  I 

I'AflE 

MY    ARRIVAL   AT   TSAVO I 

CHAPTER  II 

THE    FIRST    APPEARANCE   OF   THE    MAN-EATERS 2O 

CHAPTER  III 

THE   ATTACK    ON    THE    COODS-WAGON 2Q 

CHAPTER    IV 

THE   P.UILDING   OF  THE  TSAVO   BRIDGE 41 

CHAPTER  V 

TROUBLES    WITH    THE   WORKMEN 5O 

CHAPTER  VI 

THE    REIGN    OF   TERROR 6l 

CHAPTER  VII 

THE  DISTRICT  OFFICER'S   NARROW   ESCAPE 75 

CHAPTER  VIII 

THE  DEATH   OF  THE   FIRST  MAN-EATER 84 


xiv  CONTENTS 


•  HAPTER  IX 

PAGB 

THK    DKVIII    OF     I  HI'     SECOND     M  \N-KATKK  .  .      .  ()4 

CHAPTER   X 
THE  COMPLETION  OF  THK  T>AY(>  KR1DUK  .  107 

CHAPTER   XI 

THK   SNVAHILI    AND   OTHKR    NATIVK    TRIP.KS II~ 

CHAPTER  XII 

A    NICIIT    AFTKK    HIPPO 131 

CHAPTER    XIII 

A    DAY    ON    THK    N'hfNCr    K>(  AK  I'M  KNT 143 

CHAPTER   XIV 

THK    FINDING    OF    THK    MAN-KATKRS'    DKN 153 

CHAPTER  XV 

UNSUCCESSFUL   RHINO   HUNTS 1 66 

CHAPTER  XVI 

A    WIDOW'S    STORY 174 

CHAPTER  XVII 

AN    INI-VKIATKD    RHIN'o l8o 

CHAPTER  XVII 1 

LIONS    "IN    Till'     ATIII    PLAINS 190 

CHAPTER  XIX 

I  Hi:    -IUKKKN    CARAVAN 2OJ 

CHAPTER  XX 

A    DAY    ON    THK    ATM  I    RIVER 2lS 

CHAPTER  XXI 

THK    MASAI    AND   OTHKR    TRI1!K>  228 


CONTENTS  xv 


CHAPTER  XXII 

HAGE 

HOW    ROSHAN    KUAN    >AVH>    MY    LIFE 243 

CHAPTER  XXIII 

A   SUCCESSFUL   LION    HUNT 260 

CHAPTER  XXIV 
BHOOTA'S  LAST  SH/KAK 269 

CHAPTER  XXV 

A    MAN-EATER    IN   A    RAILWAY   CARRIAGE 282 

CHAPTER  XXVI 

WORK.    AT    NAIROBI ' 289 

CHAPTER  XXVII 

THE    FINDING   OF   THE    NEW    ELAND 296 

APPENDIX  3'7 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 


Heads  of  eight  Lions    shot  by   the   Author   in    British    East 

Africa Frontispiece 

Mombasa,  from  the  Harbour I 

The  Native  Quarter,  Mombasa 2 

"  Well-wooded  hills  and  slopes  of  the  mainland  " 3 

Yasco  da  Gama  Street  and  Pillar      5 

"The  best  way  to  get  there  .  .  .  was  \^  gharri" 6 

"  I  pitched  my  tent  under  some  shady  palms  " 7 

"  Jesus  Fort " 8 

"  Kilindini  is  ....  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  island"      ....  10 

"  The  Place  of  Deep  Waters  "  .         • it 

"  A  lucky  shot  brought  down  the  huge  bird  " 14 

"  I  slept  that  night  in  a  little  palm  hut  " 15 

"  This  interminable  nyika''' 17 

"  The  river  crossed  by  means  of  a  temporary  bridge  "      ....  18 

Women  of  Uganda 19 

The  Tent  from  which  jemadar  Ungan  Singh  was  carried  off  .    .  23 

"  My  own  tent  was  pitched  in  an  open  clearing  " 29 

"  We  shared  a  hut  of  palm  leaves  and  boughs  " 30 

"  The    camps  of  the  workmen  had  also  been  surrounded   by 

thorn  fences  " 31 

"  Railhead  Camp,  with  its  two  or  three  thousand  workmen"      .  33 
"  The  two  wounded  coolies  were  left  where  they  lay,  a  piece 

of  torn  tent  having  fallen  over  them  " 35 

"A  luncheon    served  in  the  wilds,  with   occasionally  a  friend 

to  share  it  " 43 

0 


xviii  LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 


I'AGE 


"  It  very  soon  became  a  great  pet  " 46 

"  Heera  Singh  made  a  wild  spring  into  the  water  to  get  clear 

of  the  falling  stone  " 47 

"  The  door  which  was  to  admit  the  lion  " 62 

"When  the  trap  was  ready,  I  pitched  a  tent  over  it" 64 

"  They  found  him  stuck  fast  in  the  bushes  of  the  l>oma  ....  70 

"  Perched  on  the  top  of  water-tanks  " 73 

"  I  took  up  my  position  in  a  crib  made  of  sleepers" 77 

Whitehead  on  a  Trolley  at  the  exact  spot  where  the  Lion 

jumped  upon  him 79 

Abdullah  and  his  two  Wives 80 

A  party  of  Wa  Jamousi 83 

"  His  length  from  tip  of  nose  to  tip  of  tail  was  nine  feet 

eight  inches"  92 

Head  of  the  first  Man-Eater 93 

"The  following  evening  I  took  up  my  position  in  this  same 

tree  " 99 

"  He  measured  nine  feet  six  inches  from  tip  of  nose  to  tip 

of  tail,  and  stood  three  feet  eleven  and  a  half  inches  high  "  102 

"The  bridge  over  the  Tsavo  rapidly  neared  completion"  ...  107 

"  The  heavy  stones  were  swung  into  position  " 108 

"  The  girder  was  run  over  its  exact  place  "  109 

"  And  finally  lowered  gently  into  position  "  . 109 

"  Very  soon  I  had  the  satisfaction  of  seeing  the  first  train 

cross  the  finished  work" 110 

The  completed  Tsavo  Bridge 1 1 1 

One  of  the  Trolley  Lines  after  the  Flood 112 

Swahili  Caravan  Porters 118 

"  The  old  caravan  road  which  crossed  the  Tsavo  at  a  ford  "  .  .  119 

"  Such  was  my  cook,  Mabruki " 120 

"  The  women  .  .  .  wear  a  long,  brightly-coloured  cloth  "  ...  121 

"  The  women  attire  themselves  only  in  a  short  kilt "  .  ...  123 

"  We  arrived  at  M'Gogo's  capital " 124 

'•  Making pombe  in  the  hollowed-out  stump  of  a  tree"  ....  125 

Wa  Taita  Men 127 

M'Kamba  Woman 129 

"  Until  it  joins  the  Athi  River"  134 

"The  banks  of  the  Sabaki  are  lined  with  trees" 136 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS  xix 


"  I  caught  sight  of  a  fine  waterbuck  and  successfully  bowled 

him  over" 144 

"  A  young  one  was  lying  down  quite  close  to  me  " 145 

A  Crocodile  on  the  Sabaki      151 

"  Beyond  all  doubt,  the  man-eaters'  den  !  " 1 56 

"\Vatchtheanimalscomedowntodrink" 159 

"  The  antelope  swinging  by  his  feet " 163 

Hippo  Head 165 

"  Slaves  chained  neck  to  neck  as  was  the  custom" ,  172 

Hospital  Tent  at  Voi  where  Mrs.  O'Hara  rested 176 

In  the  Bazaar  at  Kampala 179 

"  The  great  Athi  Plains  " 180 

"  First  the  earth  surface  has  to  be  prepared  " 182 

"  Cuttings  have  to  be  made  and  hollows  banked  up" 183 

"Another  gang  drops  the  rails  in  their  places" 185 

"  It  never  moved  again  "      188 

"  The   trophy  was  well   worth  the  pains   I   had  taken  to    add 

it  to  my  collection  " 189 

Jackson's  Hartebeeste  and  Zebra 191 

Waterbuck      192 

"  Fortunately  the  brute  fell  dead  after  this  final  effort  "    ....  198 
"  We  managed  to  bring  them  in  triumph  to  the  camp  "   ....  211 
"  I  got  near  enough  for  a  safe  shot,  which  bowled  the  ante- 
lope over  stone-dead" 215 

Wart-hog 217 

"  A  successful  snapshot  of  an  impala  just  after  it  had  been  shot  "  225 

A  Masai  Chief 229 

Masai  Warriors 231 

Masai  Woman 232 

Masai  Girls 233 

Masai  Women 234 

N'derobbo  Boy 235 

N'derobbo  Boy,  with  Collabus  Monkey 236 

N'derobbo  Girl  ....     • 237 

Wa  Kikuyu 239 

Wa  Wikuyu 240 

"  The  women  of  the  Wa  Kikuyu  carry  the  heavy  loads  "     .    .    .  241 

"  Spooner's  plucky  servant,  Imam  Din" 277 


xx  LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 

PAGE 

A  Collection  of  Trophies 281 

"  He  was  kept  on  view  for  several  days,  and  then  shot  "  .    .    .    .  287 

Impala 288 

"  I  took  a  photograph  of  him  standing  beside  his  fine  trophy"  .  291 

"  Succeeded  in  finishing  him  off  without  further  trouble"    .    .    .  294 

Steamer  unloading  at  Kisumu,  on  Lake  Victoria  N  van/a     .    .    .  295 

The  Grand  Falls,  Tana  River 296 

Shimone,   "The  Place  of  Falling  Water"  (Eldama  Ravine)  .    .  297 

Oryx 298 

Roan  Antelope 299 

"  An  excellent,  cheery  fellow  ....  named  Landaalu "    .    .    .    .  300 

Crossing  a  Stream  on  the  Cook's  Box 301 

Crossing  the  Angarua  River 303 

Reedbuck 305 

The  New  Eland — T.  oryx  pattersonitinits 313 

Thomson's  Gazelle 316 

War  Canoe  on  Lake  Victoria  Nyanza,  near  the  Ripon  Falls   .    .  319 

Preparing  Breakfast  in  Camp 320 

View  in  the  Kenya  Province 324 

"A  flying  visit  in  a  rickshaw  to  Kampala''      325 

"  Clad  in  long  flowing  cotton  garments  " 326 

Jinja 327 

"  Rushing  over  the  Ripon  Falls" 328 

"  The   mighty  river  stretching    away   to   the   north   amid   en- 
chanting scenery"    .        329 

\Va  Kikuyu  Warriors 338 

Map  of  British  East  Africa 339 


MOMBASA,    FROM    THE   HARBOUR. 


THE   MAN-EATERS  OF  TSAVO 


CHAPTER  I 

MY    ARRIVAL    AT   TSAYO 

IT  was  towards  noon  on  March  i,  1898,  that  I 
first  found  myself  entering  the  narrow  and  some- 
what dangerous  harbour  of  Mombasa,  on  the  east 
coast  of  Africa.  The  town  lies  on  an  island  of  the 
same  name,  separated  from  the  mainland  only  by 
a  very  narrow  channel,  which  forms  the  harbour  ; 
and  as  our  vessel  steamed  slowly  in,  close  under  the 
quaint  old  Portuguese  fortress  built  over  three 
hundred  years  ago,  1  was  much  struck  with  the 
strange  beauty  of  the  view  which  gradually  opened 
out  before  me.  Contrary  to  my  anticipation,  every  - 

B 


2  THE  MAN-EATERS  OF  TSAVO          CHAP. 

thing  looked  fresh  and  green,  and  an  oriental 
glamour  of  enchantment  seemed  to  hang  over  the 
island.  The  old  town  was  bathed  in  brilliant  sun- 
shine and  reflected  itself  lazily  on  the  motionless  sea; 
its  flat  roofs  and  dazzlingly  white  walls  peeped  out 


THK    NAIIVK    (,>r.\KTI-:K.     MOM1SASA. 


dreamily  between  waving  palms  and  lofty  cocoanuts, 
huge  baobabs  and  spreading  mango  trees  ;  and  the 
darker  background  of  well-wooded  hills  and  slopes 
on  the  mainland  formed  a  very  effective  setting  to  a 
beautiful  and,  to  me,  unexpected  picture. 

The  harbour  was  plentifully  sprinkled  with  Arab 
dhows,    in  some  of  which,   I   believe,  even  at  the 


MY  ARRIVAL  AT  TSAVO 


present  day,  a  few  slaves  are  occasionally  smuggled 
off  to  Persia  and  Arabia.  It  has  always  been  a 
matter  of  great  wonder  to  me  how  the  navigators  of 
these  little  vessels  find  their  way  from  port  to  port, 
as  they  do,  without  the  aid  of  either  compass  or 
sextant,  and  how  they  manage  to  weather  the 


"\VEU.-\VOODED   HILLS   AND   SLOPES   ON   THE   MAINLAND. 

terrible  storms  that  at  certain  seasons  of  the  year 
suddenly  visit  eastern  seas.  I  remember  once  coming 
across  a  dhow  becalmed  in  the  middle  of  the  Indian 
Ocean,  and  its  crew  making  signals  of  distress,  our 
captain  slowed  down  to  investigate.  There  were 
four  men  on  board,  all  nearly  dead  from  thirst ;  they 
had  been  without  drink  of  any  kind  for  several  days 


B  2 


THE  MAN-EATERS  OF  TSAVO          CHAP. 


and  had  completely  lost  their  bearings.  After 
giving  them  some  casks  of  water,  we  directed  them 
to  Muscat  (the  port  they  wished  to  make),  and  our 
vessel  resumed  its  journey,  leaving  them  still 
becalmed  in  the  midst  of  that  glassy  sea.  Whether 
they  managed  to  reach  their  destination  I  never  knew. 

As  our  steamer  made  its  way  to  its  anchorage, 
the  romantic  surroundings  of  the  harbour  of 
Mombasa  conjured  up  visions  of  stirring  adventures 
of  the  past,  and  recalled  to  my  mind  the  many  tales 
of  reckless  doings  of  pirates  and  slavers,  which  as  a 
boy  it  had  been  my  delight  to  read.  I  remembered 
that  it  was  at  this  very  place  that  in  1498  the  great 
Vasco  da  Gama  nearly  lost  his  ship  and  life  through 
the  treachery  of  his  Arab  pilot,  who  plotted  to 
wreck  the  vessel  on  the  reef  which  bars  more  than 
half  the  entrance  to  the  harbour.  Luckily,  this 
nefarious  design  was  discovered  in  time,  and  the 
bold  navigator  promptly  hanged  the  pilot,  and 
wrould  also  have  sacked  the  town  but  for  the  timely 
submission  and  apologies  of  the  Sultan.  In  the 
principal  street  of  Mombasa — appropriately  called 
Vasco  da  Gama  Street— there  still  stands  a 
curiously-shaped  pillar  which  is  said  to  have  been 
erected  by  this  great  seaman  in  commemoration  of 
his  visit. 

Scarcely  had  the  anchor  been  dropped,  when,  as 
if  by  magic,  our  vessel  was  surrounded  by  a  fleet 


MY  ARRIVAL  AT  TSAVO 


of  small  boats  and  "  dug-outs  "  manned  by  crowds 
of  shouting  and  gesticulating  natives.  After  a  short 
fight  between  some  rival  Swahili  boatmen  for  my 
luggage  and  person,  I  found  myself  being  vigor- 
ously rowed  to  the  foot  of  the  landing  steps  by  the 
bahareen  (sailors)  who  had  been  successful  in  the 


VASCO   DA    GAMA   STREET   AND    PILLAR. 

encounter.  Now,  my  object  in  coming  out  to  East 
Africa  at  this  time  was  to  take  up  a  position  to 
which  I  had  been  appointed  by  the  Foreign  Office 
on  the  construction  staff  of  the  Uganda  Railway. 
As  soon  as  I  landed,  therefore,  I  enquired 
from  one  of  the  Customs  officials  where  the  head- 
quarters of  the  railway  were  to  be  found,  and 


THE  MAN-EATERS  OF  TSAVO 


CHAP. 


was  told  that  they  were  at  a  place  called  Kilindini, 
some  three  miles  away,  on  the  other  side  of  the 
island.  The  best  way  to  get  there,  I  was  further 
informed,  was  by  gharri,  which  I  found  to  be  a 
small  trolley,  having  two  seats  placed  back  to  back 
under  a  little  canopy  and  running  on  narrow  rails 


"THE  BEST  WAY  TO  GET  THERE  .  .  .  WAS  BY  gharri." 

which  are  laid  through  the  principal  street  of  the 
town.  Accordingly,  I  secured  one  of  these  vehicles, 
which  are  pushed  by  two  strapping  Swahili  boys, 
and  was  soon  flying  down  the  track,  which  once 
outside  the  town  lay  for  the  most  part  through 
dense  groves  of  mango,  baobab,  banana  and  palm 
trees,  with  here  and  there  brilliantly-coloured 


MY  ARRIVAL  AT  TSAVO 


creepers    hanging   in    luxuriant    festoons    from    the 
branches. 

On  arrival  at  Kilindini,  I  made  my  way  to  the 
Railway  Offices  and  was  informed  that  I  should  be 
stationed  inland  and  should  receive  further  instruc- 
tions in  the  course  of  a  day  or  two.  Meanwhile  I 


"  I  PITCHED  MY  TEXT  UNDER  SOME  SHADY  PALMS." 

pitched  my  tent  under  some  shady  palms  near  the 
gharri  line,  and  busied  myself  in  exploring  the  island 
and  in  procuring  the  stores  and  the  outfit  necessary 
for  a  lengthy  sojourn  up-country.  The  town  of 
Mombasa  itself  naturally  occupied  most  of  my 
attention.  It  is  supposed  to  have  been  founded 
about  A.D.  1000,  but  the  discovery  of  ancient 


THE  MAN-EATERS  OF  TSAVO          CHAP. 


Egyptian  idols,  and  of  coins  of  the  early  Persian  and 
Chinese  dynasties,  goes  to  show  that  it  must  at 
different  ages  have  been  settled  by  people  of  the 
very  earliest  civilisations.  Coming  to  more  modern 
times,  it  was  held  on  and  off  from  1505  to  1729  by 
the  Portuguese,  a  permanent  memorial  of  whose 


"JESUS   FORT." 

occupation  remains  in  the  shape  of  the  grim  old 
fortress,  built  about  1593 — on  the  site,  it  is  believed, 
of  a  still  older  stronghold.  These  enterprising  sea- 
rovers  piously  named  it  "Jesus  Fort,"  and  an 
inscription  recording  this  is  still  to  be  seen  over  the 
main  entrance.  The  Portuguese  occupation  of 


MY  ARRIVAL  AT  TSAVO 


Mombasa  was,  however,  not  without  its  vicissitudes. 
From  March  15,  1696,  for  example,  the  town  was 
besieged  for  thirty-three  consecutive  months  by  a 
large  fleet  of  Arab  dhows,  which  completely  sur- 
rounded the  island.  In  spite  of  plague,  treachery 
and  famine,  the  little  garrison  held  out  valiantly  in 
Jesus  Fort,  to  which  they  had  been  forced  to  retire, 
until  December  12,  1698,  when  the  Arabs  made  a 
last  determined  attack  and  captured  the  citadel, 
putting  the  remnant  of  the  defenders,  both  men  and 
women,  to  the  sword.  It  is  pathetic  to  read  that 
only  two  days  later  a  large  Portuguese  fleet  appeared 
off  the  harbour,  bringing  the  long-looked-for  rein- 
forcements. After  this  the  Portuguese  made  several 
attempts  to  reconquer  Mombasa,  but  were  unsuc- 
cessful until  1728,  when  the  town  was  stormed  and 
captured  by  General  Sampayo.  The  Arabs,  how- 
ever, returned  the  next  year  in  overwhelming 
numbers,  and  again  drove  the  Portuguese  out  ;  and 
although  the  latter  made  one  more  attempt  in  1769 
to  regain  their  lost  supremacy,  they  did  not 
succeed. 

The  Arabs,  as  represented  by  the  Sultan  of 
Zanzibar,  remain  in  nominal  possession  of  Mombasa 
to  the  present  day  ;  but  in  1887  Seyid  Bargash,  the 
then  Sultan  of  Zanzibar,  gave  for  an  annual  rental 
a  concession  of  his  mainland  territories  to  the  British 
East  Africa  Association,  which  in  1888  was  formed 


IO 


THE  MAN-EATERS  OF  TSAVO 


CHAP. 


into  the  Imperial  British  East  Africa  Company.  In 
1895  the  Foreign  Office  took  over  control  of  the 
Company's  possessions,  and  a  Protectorate  was 
proclaimed  ;  and  ten  years  later  the  administration 
of  the  country  was  transferred  to  the  Colonial  Office. 
The  last  serious  fighting  on  the  island  took  place 


"KILINDIM  is  ...  ON  THE  OPPOSITE  SIDE  OK  THE  ISLAND." 

so  recently  as  1895-6,  when  a  Swahili  chief  named 
M'baruk  bin  Rashed,  who  had  three  times  previously 
risen  in  rebellion  against  the  Sultan  of  Zanzibar, 
attempted  to  defy  the  British  and  to  throw  off  their 
yoke.  He  was  defeated  on  several  occasions,  how- 
ever, and  was  finally  forced  to  flee  southwards  into 
German  territory.  Altogether,  Mombasa  has  in 


MY  ARRIVAL  AT  TSAVO 


ii 


the  past  well  deserved  its  native  name  of  Kisiwa 
M'vita,  or  "Isle  of  War";  but  under  the  settled 
rule  now  obtaining,  it  is  rapidly  becoming  a  thriving 
and  prosperous  town,  and  as  the  port  of  entry  for 
Uganda,  it  does  a  large  forwarding  trade  with  the 


"THE  PLACE  OF  DEEP  WATERS." 

interior  and  has  several  excellent  stores  where 
almost  anything,  from  a  needle  to  an  anchor,  may 
readily  be  obtained. 

Kilindini  is,  as  I  have  said,  on  the  opposite  side 
of  the  island,  and  as  its  name — "  the  place  of  deep 
waters" — implies,  has  a  much  finer  harbour  than 
that  possessed  by  Mombasa.  The  channel  between 


12  THE  MAN-EATERS  OF  TSAVO  CHAP. 

the  island  and  the  mainland  is  here  capable  of 
giving  commodious  and  safe  anchorage  to  the  very 
largest  vessels,  and  as  the  jetty  is  directly  connected 
with  the  Uganda  Railway,  Kilindini  has  now  really 
become  the  principal  port,  being  always  used  by 
the  liners  and  heavier  vessels. 

I  had  spent  nearly  a  week  in  Mombasa,  and  was 
becoming  very  anxious  to  get  my  marching  orders, 
when  one  morning  I  was  delighted  to  receive  an 
official  letter  instructing  me  to  proceed  to  Tsavo, 
about  one  hundred  and  thirty-two  miles  from  the 
coast,  and  to  take  charge  of  the  construction  of  the 
section  of  the  line  at  that  place,  which  had  just  then 
been  reached  by  railhead.  I  accordingly  started  at 
daylight  next  morning  in  a  special  train  with 
Mr.  Anderson,  the  Superintendent  of  Works,  and 
Dr.  McCulloch,  the  principal  Medical  Officer  ;  and 
as  the  country  was  in  every  way  new  to  me,  I  found 
the  journey  a  most  interesting  one. 

The  island  of  Mombasa  is  separated  from  the 
mainland  by  the  Strait  of  Macupa,  and  the  railway 
crosses  this  by  a  bridge  about  three-quarters  of  a 
mile  long,  called  the  Salisbury  Bridge,  in  honour  of 
the  great  Minister  for  Foreign  Affairs  under  whose 
direction  the  Uganda  Railway  scheme  was  under- 
taken. For  twenty  miles  after  reaching  the  main- 
land, our  train  wound  steadily  upwards  through 
beautifully  wooded,  park  -  like  country,  and  on 


i  MY  ARRIVAL  AT  TSAVO  13 

looking  back  out  of  the  carriage  windows  we  could 
every  now  and  again  obtain  lovely  views  of 
Mombasa  and  Kilindini,  while  beyond  these  the 
Indian  Ocean  sparkled  in  the  glorious  sunshine  as 
far  as  the  eye  could  see.  The  summit  of  the  Rabai 
Hills  having  been  reached,  we  entered  on  the 
expanse  of  the  Taru  Desert,  a  wilderness  covered 
with  poor  scrub  and  stunted  trees,  and  carpeted  in 
the  dry  season  with  a  layer  of  fine  red  dust.  This 
dust  is  of  a  most  penetrating  character,  and  finds  its 
way  into  everything  in  the  carriage  as  the  train 
passes  along.  From  here  onward  game  is  more  or 
less  plentiful,  but  the  animals  are  very  difficult  to 
see  owing  to  the  thick  undergrowth  in  which  they 
hide  themselves.  We  managed,  however,  to  catch 
sight  of  a  few  from  the  carriage  windows,  and  also 
noticed  some  of  the  natives,  the  Wa  Nyika,  or 
"children  of  the  wilderness." 

At  Maungu,  some  eighty  miles  from  the  coast,  we 
came  to  the  end  of  this  "desert,"  but  almost  the 
only  difference  to  be  noticed  in  the  character  of  the 
country  was  that  the  colour  of  the  dust  had  changed. 
As  our  train  sped  onwards  through  the  level  uplands 
\ve  saw  a  fine  ostrich  striding  along  parallel  with 
the  line,  as  if  having  a  race  with  us.  Dr.  McCulloch 
at  once  seized  his  rifle  and  by  a  lucky  shot  brought 
down  the  huge  bird  ;  the  next  and  greater  difficulty, 
however,  was  to  secure  the  prize.  For  a  time  the 


14  THE  MAN-EATERS  OF  TSAVO  CHAP. 


engine-driver  took  no  notice  of  our  signals  and 
shouts,  but  at  last  we  succeeded  in  attracting  his 
attention,  and  the  train  was  shunted  back  to  where 
the  ostrich  had  fallen.  We  found  it  to  be  an 
exceptionally  fine  specimen,  and  had  to  exert  all 
our  strength  to  drag  it  on  board  the  train. 


"A  LUCKY  SHOT  BROUGHT  DOWN  THE  HUGE  BIRD." 

Soon  after  this  we  reached  Voi,  about  a  hundred 
miles  from  the  coast,  and  as  this  was  the  most 
important  station  on  the  line  that  we  had  yet  come 
to,  we  made  a  short  halt  in  order  to  inspect  some 
construction  work  which  was  going  on.  On 
resuming  our  journey,  we  soon  discovered  that  a 
pleasant  change  had  occurred  in  the  character  of 


MY  ARRIVAL  AT  TSAVO 


the  landscape.  From  a  place  called  N'dii,  the 
railway  runs  for  some  miles  through  a  beautifully 
wooded  country,  which  looked  all  the  more  inviting 
after  the  deadly  monotony  of  the  wilderness  through 
which  we  had  just  passed.  To  the  south  of  us  could 
be  seen  the  N'dii  range  of  mountains,  the  dwelling- 


"  I    SLEPT   THAT    NIGHT    IN    A    LITTLE    PALM    HUT." 

place  of  the  Wa  Taita  people,  while  on  our  right 
rose  the  rigid  brow  of  the  N'dungu  Escarpment, 
which  stretches  away  westwards  for  scores  of  miles. 
Here  our  journey  was  slow,  as  every  now  and 
again  we  stopped  to  inspect  the  permanent  works  in 
progress  ;  but  eventually,  towards  dusk,  we  arrived 
at  our  destination,  Tsavo.  I  slept  that  night  in  a 


16  THE  MAN-EATERS  OF  TSAVO          CHAP. 

little  palm  hut  which  had  been  built  by  some  pre- 
vious traveller,  and  which  was  fortunately  unoccupied 
for  the  time  being.  It  was  rather  broken-down  and 
dilapidated,  not  even  possessing  a  door,  and  as  I 
lay  on  my  narrow  camp  bed  I  could  see  the  stars 
twinkling  through  the  roof.  I  little  knew  then 
what  adventures  awaited  me  in  this  neighbour- 

o 

hood ;  and  if  I  had  realised  that  at  that  very 
time  two  savage  brutes  were  prowling  round, 
seeking  whom  they  might  devour,  I  hardly  think 
I  should  have  slept  so  peacefully  in  my  rickety 
shelter. 

Next  morning  I  was  up  betimes,  eager  to  make 
acquaintance  with  my  new  surroundings.  My  first 
impression  on  coming  out  of  my  hut  was  that  I  was 
hemmed  in  on  all  sides  by  a  dense  growth  of  im- 
penetrable jungle  :  and  on  scrambling  to  the  top  of 
a  little  hill  close  at  hand,  I  found  that  the  whole 
country  as  far  as  I  could  see  was  covered  with  lowr, 
stunted  trees,  thick  undergrowth  and  "  wait-a-bit  " 
thorns.  The  only  clearing,  indeed,  appeared  to  be 
where  the  narrow  track  for  the  railway  had  been  cut. 
This  interminable  nyika,  or  wilderness  of  whitish 
and  leafless  dwarf  trees,  presented  a  ghastly  and  sun- 
stricken  appearance  ;  and  here  and  there  a  ridge  of 
dark-red  heat-blistered  rock  jutted  out  above  the 
jungle,  and  added  by  its  rugged  barrenness  to  the 
dreariness  of  the  picture.  Away  to  the  north-east 


MY  ARRIVAL  AT  TSAVO 


stretched  the  unbroken  line  of  the  N'dungu  Escarp- 
ment, while  far  off  to  the  south  I  could  just  catch  a 
glimpse  of  the  snow-capped  top  of  towering  Kilima 
N  j'aro.  The  one  redeeming  feature  of  the  neigh- 
bourhood was  the  river  from  which  Tsavo  takes  its 
name.  This  is  a  swiftly-flowing  stream,  always  cool 
and  always  running,  the  latter  being  an  exceptional 


"THIS    INTERMINABLE    Ityika" 

attribute  in  this  part  of  East  Africa  ;  and  the  fringe 
of  lofty  green  trees  along  its  banks  formed  a 
welcome  relief  to  the  general  monotony  of  the 
landscape. 

When  I  had  thus  obtained  a  rough  idea  of  the 
neighbourhood,  I  returned  to  my  hut,  and  began  in 
earnest  to  make  preparations  for  my  stay  in  this  out- 
of-the-way  place.  The  stores  were  unpacked,  and 
my  "boys"  pitched  my  tent  in  a  little  clearing  close 


i8  THE  MAN-EATERS  OF  TSAVO          CHAP. 

to  where  I  had  slept  the  night  before  and  not  far 
from  the  main  camp  of  the  workmen.  Railhead  had 
at  this  time  just  reached  the  western  side  of  the  river, 
and  some  thousands  of  Indian  coolies  and  other 
workmen  were  encamped  there.  As  the  line 


"  THE    RIVER    CROSSED    BY    MEANS    OF    A    TEMPORARY    BRIDGE." 

had  to  be  pushed  on  with  all  speed,  a  diversion 
had  been  made  and  the  river  crossed  by  means 
of  a  temporary  bridge.  My  principal  work  was 
to  erect  the  permanent  structure,  and  to  complete 
all  the  other  works  for  a  distance  of  thirty  miles 
on  each  side  of  Tsavo.  I  accordingly  made  a 
survey  of  what  had  to  be  done,  and  sent  my 


MY  ARRIVAL  AT  TSAVO 


requisition  for  labour,  tools  and  material  to  the  head- 
quarters at  Kilindini.  In  a  short  time  workmen  and 
supplies  came  pouring  in,  and  the  noise  of  hammers 
and  sledges,  drilling  and  blasting,  echoed  merrily 


through  the  district. 


WOMEN   OF    UGANDA. 


C    2 


CHAPTER    II 

THE    FIRST    APPEARANCE    OF   THE   MAN-EATERS 

UNFORTUNATELY  this  happy  state  of  affairs  did  not 
continue  for  long,  and  our  work  was  soon  interrupted 
in  a  rude  and  startling  manner.  Two  most  voraci- 
ous and  insatiable  man-eating  lions  appeared  upon 
the  scene,  and  for  over  nine  months  waged  an  inter- 
mittent warfare  against  the  railway  and  all  those 
connected  with  it  in  the  vicinity  of  Tsavo.  This 
culminated  in  a  perfect  reign  of  terror  in  December, 
1898,  when  they  actually  succeeded  in  bringing  the 
railway  works  to  a  complete  standstill  for  about  three 
weeks.  At  first  they  were  not  always  successful  in  their 
efforts  to  carry  off  a  victim,  but  as  time  went  on  they 
stopped  at  nothing  and  indeed  braved  any  danger  in 
order  to  obtain  their  favourite  food.  Their  methods 
then  became  so  uncanny,  and  their  man-stalking  so 
well-timed  and  so  certain  of  success,  that  the  work- 
men firmly  believed  that  they  were  not  real  animals 
at  all,  but  devils  in  lions'  shape.  Many  a  time  the 


CH.  ii     APPEARANCE  OF  THE  MAN-EATERS        21 

coolies  solemnly  assured  me  that  it  was  absolutely 
useless  to  attempt  to  shoot  them.  They  were  quite 
convinced  that  the  angry  spirits  of  two  departed 
native  chiefs  had  taken  this  form  in  order  to  protest 
against  a  railway  being  made  through  their  country, 
and  by  stopping  its  progress  to  avenge  the  insult 
thus  shown  to  them. 

I  had  only  been  a  few  days  at  Tsavo  when  I  first 
heard  that  these  brutes  had  been  seen  in  the  neigh- 
bourhood. Shortly  afterwards  one  or  two  coolies 
mysteriously  disappeared,  and  I  was  told  that  they 
had  been  carried  off  by  night  from  their  tents  and 
devoured  by  lions.  At  the  time  I  did  not  credit 
this  story,  and  was  more  inclined  to  believe  that  the 
unfortunate  men  had  been  the  victims  of  foul  play 
at  the  hands  of  some  of  their  comrades.  They 
were,  as  it  happened,  very  good  workmen,  and  had 
each  saved  a  fair  number  of  rupees,  so  I  thought  it 
quite  likely  that  some  scoundrels  from  the  gangs 
had  murdered  them  for  the  sake  of  their  money. 
This  suspicion,  however,  was  very  soon  dispelled. 
About  three  weeks  after  my  arrival,  I  was  roused 
one  morning  about  daybreak  and  told  that  one  of 
my  jemadars,  a  fine  powerful  Sikh  named  Ungan 
Singh,  had  been  seized  in  his  tent  during  the  night, 
and  dragged  off  and  eaten. 

Naturally  I  lost  no  time  in  making  an  examina- 
tion of  the  place,  and  was  soon  convinced  that  the 


22  THE  MAN-EATERS  OF  TSAVO          CHAP. 


man  had  indeed  been  carried  off  by  a  lion,  as  its 
"pug"  marks  were  plainly  visible  in  the  sand,  while 
the  furrows  made  by  the  heels  of  the  victim  showed 
the  direction  in  which  he  had  been  dragged  away. 
Moreover,  the  jemadar  shared  his  tent  with  half  a 
dozen  other  workmen,  and  one  of  his  bedfellows 
had  actually  witnessed  the  occurrence.  He  graphic- 
ally described  how,  at  about  midnight,  the  lion 
suddenly  put  its  head  in  at  the  open  tent  door  and 
seized  Ungan  Singh — who  happened  to  be  nearest 
the  opening  —  by  the  throat.  The  unfortunate 
fellow  cried  out  "  O0n? "  ("  Let  go"),  and  threw 
his  arms  up  round  the  lion's  neck.  The  next 
moment  he  was  gone,  and  his  panic-stricken  com- 
panions lay  helpless,  forced  to  listen  to  the  terrible 
struggle  which  took  place  outside.  Poor  Ungan 
Singh  must  have  died  hard  ;  but  what  chance  had 
he?  As  a  coolie  gravely  remarked,  "  Was  he  not 
fighting  with  a  lion  ?  " 

On  hearing  this  dreadful  story  I  at  once  set  out 
to  try  to  track  the  animal,  and  was  accompanied  by 
Captain  Haslem,  who  happened  to  be  staying  at 
Tsavo  at  the  time,  and  who,  poor  fellow,  himself 
met  with  a  tragic  fate  very  shortly  afterwards.  We 
found  it  an  easy  matter  to  follow  the  route  taken  by 
the  lion,  as  he  appeared  to  have  stopped  several 
times  before  beginning  his  meal.  Pools  of  blood 
marked  these  halting-places,  where  he  doubtless 


n          APPEARANCE  OF  THE  MAN-EATERS         23 


indulged  in  the  man-eaters'  habit  of  licking  the  skin 
off  so  as  to  get  at  the  fresh  blood.  (I  have  been 
led  to  believe  that  this  is  their  custom  from  the 
appearance  of  two  half-eaten  bodies  which  I  subse- 
quently rescued  :  the  skin  was  gone  in  places,  and 
the  flesh  looked  dry,  as  if  it  had  been  sucked.)  On 


THE    TENT    FROM    WHICH    Jemadar   UNGAN    SINGH    WAS   CARRIED    OFF. 

reaching  the  spot  where  the  body  had  been  devoured, 
a  dreadful  spectacle  presented  itself.  The  ground 
all  round  was  covered  with  blood  and  morsels  of 
flesh  and  bones,  but  the  unfortunate  jemadars  head 
had  been  left  intact,  save  for  the  holes  made  by  the 
lion's  tusks  on  seizing  him,  and  lay  a  short  distance 
away  from  the  other  remains,  the  eyes  staring  wide 


24  THE  MAN-EATERS  OF  TSAVO          CHAP. 


open  with  a  startled,  horrified  look  in  them.  The 
place  was  considerably  cut  up,  and  on  closer  exami- 
nation we  found  that  two  lions  had  been  there  and 
had  probably  struggled  for  possession  of  the  body. 
It  was  the  most  gruesome  sight  I  had  ever  seen. 
We  collected  the  remains  as  well  as  we  could  and 
heaped  stones  on  them,  the  head  with  its  fixed, 
terrified  stare  seeming  to  watch  us  all  the  time,  for 
it  we  did  not  bury,  but  took  back  to  camp  for 
identification  before  the  Medical  Officer. 

Thus  occurred  my  first  experience  of  man-eating 
lions,  and  I  vowed  there  and  then  that  I  would 
spare  no  pains  to  rid  the  neighbourhood  of  the 
brutes.  I  little  knew  the  trouble  that  was  in  store 
for  me,  or  how  narrow  were  to  be  my  own  escapes 
from  sharing  poor  Ungan  Singh's  fate. 

That  same  night  I  sat  up  in  a  tree  close  to  the 
late  jemadars  tent,  hoping  that  the  lions  would 
return  to  it  for  another  victim.  I  was  followed  to 
my  perch  by  a  few  of  the.  more  terrified  coolies,  who 
begged  to  be  allowed  to  sit  up  in  the  tree  with  me  ; 
all  the  other  workmen  remained  in  their  tents,  but 
no  more  doors  were  left  open.  I  had  with  me  my 
•303  and  a  12 -bore  shot  gun,  one  barrel  loaded  with 
ball  and  the  other  with  slug.  Shortly  after  settling 
down  to  my  vigil,  my  hopes  of  bagging  one  of  the 
brutes  were  raised  by  the  sound  of  their  ominous 
roaring  coming  closer  and  closer.  Presently  this 


ii          APPEARANCE  OF  THE  MAN-EATERS        25 


ceased,  and  quiet  reigned  for  an  hour  or  two.  as 
lions  always  stalk  their  prey  in  complete  silence. 
All  at  once,  however,  we  heard  a  great  uproar  and 
frenzied  cries  coming  from  another  camp  about  half 
a  mile  away ;  we  knew  then  that  the  lions  had 
seized  a  victim  there,  and  that  we  should  see  or 
hear  nothing  further  of  them  that  night. 

Next  morning  I  found  that  one  of  the  brutes  had 
broken  into  a  tent  at  Railhead  Camp — whence  we  had 
heard  the  commotion  during  the  night — and  had  made 
off  with  a  poor  wretch  who  was  lying  there  asleep. 
After  a  night's  rest,  therefore,  I  took  up  my  position 
in  a  suitable  tree  near  this  tent.  I  did  not  at  all  like 
the  idea  of  walking  the  half-mile  to  the  place  after 
dark,  but  all  the  same  I  felt  fairly  safe,  as  one  of  my 
men  carried  a  bright  lamp  close  behind  me.  He  in 
his  turn  was  followed  by  another  leading  a  goat,  which 
I  tied  under  my  tree  in  the  hope  that  the  lion  might  be 
tempted  to  seize  it  instead  of  a  coolie.  A  steady 
drizzle  commenced  shortly  after  I  had  settled  down 
to  my  night  of  watching,  and  I  was  soon  thoroughly 
chilled  and  wet.  I  stuck  to  my  uncomfortable  post, 
however,  hoping  to  get  a  shot,  but  I  well  remember 
the  feeling  of  impotent  disappointment  I  experi- 
enced when  about  midnight  I  heard  screams  and 
cries  and  a  heartrending  shriek,  which  told  me  that 
the  man-eaters  had  again  eluded  me  and  had  claimed 
another  victim  elsewhere. 


26  THE  MAN-EATERS  OF  TSAVO          CHAP. 

At  this  time  the  various  camps  for  the  workmen 
were  very  scattered,  so  that  the  lions  had  a  range  of 
some  eight  miles  on  either  side  of  Tsavo  to  work 
upon  ;  and  as  their  tactics  seemed  to  be  to  break  into 
a  different  camp  each  night,  it  was  most  difficult  to 
forestall  them.  They  almost  appeared,  too,  to  have 
an  extraordinary  and  uncanny  faculty  of  finding  out 
our  plans  beforehand,  so  that  no  matter  in  how 
likely  or  how  tempting  a  spot  we  lay  in  wait  for  them, 
they  invariably  avoided  that  particular  place  and 
seized  their  victim  for  the  night  from  some  other 
camp.  Hunting  them  by  day,  moreover,  in  such  a 
dense  wilderness  as  surrounded  us,  was  an  exceed- 
ingly tiring  and  really  foolhardy  undertaking.  In  a 
thick  jungle  of  the  kind  round  Tsavo  the  hunted 
animal  has  every  chance  against  the  hunter,  as 
however  careful  the  latter  may  be,  a  dead  twig  or 
something  of  the  sort  is  sure  to  crackle  just  at  the 
critical  moment  and  so  give  the  alarm.  Still  I  never 
gave  up  hope  of  some  day  finding  their  lair,  and 
accordingly  continued  to  devote  all  my  spare  time  to 
crawling  about  through  the  undergrowth.  Many  a 
time  when  attempting  to  force  my  way  through  this 
bewildering  tangle  I  had  to  be  released  by  my  gun- 
bearer  from  the  fast  clutches  of  the  "  wrait-a-bit  "  ; 
and  often  with  immense  pains  I  succeeded  in  tracing 
the  lions  to  the  river  after  they  had  seized  a  victim, 
only  to  lose  the  trail  from  there  onwards,  owing  to 


ii          APPEARANCE  OF  THE  MAN-EATERS        27 

the  rocky  nature  of  the  ground  which  they  seemed 
to  be  careful  to  choose  in  retreating  to  their  den. 

At  this  early  stage  of  the  struggle,  I  am  glad  to 
say,  the  lions  were  not  always  successful  in  their 
efforts  to  capture  a  human  being  for  their  nightly 
meal,  and  one  or  two  amusing  incidents  occurred  to 
relieve  the  tension  from  which  our  nerves  were 
beginning  to  suffer.  On  one  occasion  an  enterpris- 
ing bunniah  (Indian  trader)  was  riding  along  on  his 
donkey  late  one  night,  when  suddenly  a  lion  sprang 
out  on  him,  knocking  over  both  man  and  beast. 
The  donkey  was  badly  wounded,  and  the  lion  was 
just  about  to  seize  the  trader,  when  in  some  way.  or 
other  his  claws  became  entangled  in  a  rope  by  which 
two  empty  oil  tins  were  strung  across  the  donkey's 
neck.  The  rattle  and  clatter  made  by  these  as  he 
dragged  them  after  him  gave  him  such  a  fright  that 
he  turned  tail  and  bolted  off  into  the  jungle,  to  the 
intense  relief  of  the  terrified  bunniah,  who  quickly 
made  his  way  up  the  nearest  tree  and  remained  there, 
shivering  with  fear,  for  the  rest  of  the  night. 

Shortly  after  this  episode,  a  Greek  contractor 
named  Themistocles  Pappadimitrini  had  an  equally 
marvellous  escape.  He  was  sleeping  peacefully  in 
his  tent  one  night,  when  a  lion  broke  in,  and  seized 
and  made  off  with  the  mattress  on  which  he  was 
lying.  Though  rudely  awakened,  the  Greek  was 
quite  unhurt  and  suffered  from  nothing  worse  than  a 


28  THE  MAN-EATERS  OF  TSAVO          CH.  n 

bad  fright.  This  same  man,  however,  met  with  a 
melancholy  fate  not  long  afterwards.  He  had  been 
to  the  Kilima  N 'jaro  district  to  buy  cattle,  and  on 
the  return  journey  attempted  to  take  a  short  cut 
across  country  to  the  railway,  but  perished  miserably 
of  thirst  on  the  way. 

On  another  occasion  fourteen  coolies  who  slept 
together  in  a  large  tent  were  one  night  awakened  by  a 
lion  suddenly  jumping  on  to  the  tent  and  breaking 
through  it.  The  brute  landed  with  one  claw  on  a 
coolie's  shoulder,  which  was  badly  torn  ;  but  instead 
of  seizing  the  man  himself,  in  his  hurry  he  grabbed 
a  large  bag  of  rice  which  happened  to  be  lying  in  the 
tent,  and  made  off  with  it,  dropping  it  in  disgust 
some  little  distance  away  when  he  realised  his 
mistake. 

These,  however,  were  only  the  earlier  efforts  of 
the  man-eaters.  Later  on,  as  will  be  seen,  nothing 
flurried  or  frightened  them  in  the  least,  and  except 
as  food  they  showed  a  complete  contempt  for  human 
beings.  Having  once  marked  down  a  victim,  they 
would  allow  nothing  to  deter  them  from  securing 
him,  whether  he  were  protected  by  a  thick  fence,  or 
inside  a  closed  tent,  or  sitting  round  a  brightly 
burning  fire.  Shots,  shouting  and  firebrands  they 
alike  held  in  derision. 


[TIIK  AI'THOR.]  [MR.  c.  KAW'SON  ] 

"MY    0\VX    TENT    \V.VS    PITCHED    IX    AN    OPEN    CLEARING.'' 


-CHAPTER  III 

THE    ATTACK    ON    THE    GOODS-WAGON 

ALL  this  time  my  own  tent  was  pitched  in  an 
open  clearing,  unprotected  by  a  fence  of  any  kind 
round  it.  One  night  when  the  medical  officer,  Dr. 
Rose,  was  staying  with  me,  we  were  awakened 
about  midnight  by  hearing  something  tumbling 
about  among  the  tent  ropes,  but  on  going  out  with  a 
lantern  we  could  discover  nothing.  Daylight,  how- 
ever, plainly  revealed  the  "  pug  "  marks  of  a  lion, 
so  that  on  that  occasion  I  fancy  one  or  other  of  us 
had  a  narrow  escape.  Warned  by  this .  experience, 


30  THE  MAN-EATERS  OF  TSAVO         CHAP. 

I  at  once  arranged  to  move  my  quarters,  and  went 
to  join  forces  with  Dr.  Brock,  who  had  just  arrived 
at  Tsavo  to  take  medical  charge  of  the  district. 
We  shared  a  hut  of  palm  leaves  and  boughs,  which 
we  had  constructed  on  the  eastern  side  of  the  river, 
close  to  the  old  caravan  route  leading  to  Uganda  ; 


"\VE    SHARED    A    HUT    OF    PAI.M    LEAVES    AND    BOUGHS." 


and  we  had  it  surrounded  by  a  circular  boma,  or 
thorn  fence,  about  seventy  yards  in  diameter,  well 
made  and  thick  and  high.  Our  personal  servants 
also  lived  within  the  enclosure,  and  a  bright  fire 
was  always  kept  up  throughout  the  night.  For  the 
sake  of  coolness,  Brock  and  I  used  to  sit  out  under 
the  verandah  of  this  hut  in  the  evenings  ;  but  it  was 


in     THE  ATTACK  ON  THE  GOODS-WAGON     31 

rather  trying  to  our  nerves  to  attempt  to  read 
or  write  there,  as  we  never  knew  when  a  lion  might 
spring  over  the  boma,  and  be  on  us  before  we  were 
aware.  We  therefore  kept  our  rifles  within  easy 
reach,  and  cast  many  an  anxious  glance  out  into  the 
inky  darkness  beyond  the  circle  of  the  firelight. 


"THE  CAMPS  OF  THE  WORKMEN  HAD  ALSO  BEEN  SURROUNDED  BY  THORN 

FENCES." 


On  one  or  two  occasions,  we  found  in  the  morning 
that  the  lions  had  come  quite  close  to  the  fence ; 
but  fortunately  they  never  succeeded  in  getting 
through. 

By  this  time,  too,  the  camps  of  the  workmen  had 
also  been  surrounded  by  thorn  fences  ;  nevertheless 
the  lions  managed  to  jump  over  or  to  break  through 


32  THE  MAN-EATERS  OF  TSAVO         CH.  in 


some  one  or  other  of  these,  and  regularly  every  few 
nights  a  man  was  carried  off,  the  reports  of  the 
disappearance  of  this  or  that  workman  coming  in  to 
me  with  painful  frequency.  So  long,  however,  as 
Railhead  Camp — with  its  two  or  three  thousand 
men,  scattered  over  a  wide  area — remained  at 
Tsavo,  the  coolies  appeared  not  to  take  much 
notice  of  the  dreadful  deaths  of  their  comrades. 
Each  man  felt,  I  suppose,  that  as  the  man-eaters 
had  such  a  large  number  of  victims  to  choose  from, 
the  chances  of  their  selecting  him  in  particular  were 
very  small.  But  when  the  large  camp  moved  ahead 
with  the  railway,  matters  altered  considerably.  I 
was  then  left  with  only  some  few  hundred  men  to 
complete  the  permanent  works ;  and  as  all  the 
remaining  workmen  were  naturally  camped  to- 
gether, the  attentions  of  the  lions  became  more 
apparent  and  made  a  deeper  impression.  A  regular 
panic  consequently  ensued,  and  it  required  all 
my  powers  of  persuasion  to  induce  the  men  to  stay 
on.  In  fact,  I  succeeded  in  doing  so  only  by 
allowing  them  to  knock  off  all  regular  work  until 
they  had  built  exceptionally  thick  and  high  bonias 
round  each  camp.  Within  these  enclosures  fires 
were  kept  burning  all  night,  and  it  was  also  the 
duty  of  the  night-watchman  to  keep  clattering  half 
a  dozen  empty  oil  tins  suspended  from  a  convenient 
tree.  These  he  manipulated  by  means  of  a  long 


•am 


D 


34  THE  MAN-EATERS  OF  TSAVO         CHAP. 


rope,  while  sitting  in  safety  within  his  tent ;  and  the 
frightful  noise  thus  produced  was  kept  up  at 
frequent  intervals  during  the  night  in  the  hopes  of 
terrifying  away  the  man-eaters.  In  spite  of  all  these 
precautions,  however,  the  lions  would  not  be  denied, 
and  men  continued  to  disappear. 

When  the  railhead  workmen  moved  on,  their 
hospital  camp  was  left  behind.  It  stood  rather 
apart  from  the  other  camps,  in  a  clearing  about 
three-quarters  of  a  mile  from  my  hut,  but  was 
protected  by  a  good  thick  fence  and  to  all  appear- 
ance was  quite  secure.  It  seemed,  however,  as  if 
barriers  were  of  no  avail  against  the  "demons  ",  for 
before  very  long  one  of  them  found  a  weak  spot  in 
the  boma  and  broke  through.  On  this  occasion  the 
Hospital  Assistant  had  a  marvellous  escape.  Hear- 
ing a  noise  outside,  he  opened  the  door  of  his  tent 
and  was  horrified  to  see  a  great  lion  standing  a  few 
yards  away  looking  at  him.  The  beast  made  a 
spring  towards  him,  which  gave  the  Assistant  such  a 
fright  that  he  jumped  backwards,  and  in  doing  so 
luckily  upset  a  box  containing  medical  stores. 
This  crashed  down  with  such  a  loud  clatter  of 
breaking  glass  that  the  lion  was  startled  for  the 
moment  and  made  off  to  another  part  of  the 
enclosure.  Here,  unfortunately,  he  was  more  suc- 
cessful, as  he  jumped  on  to  and  broke  through  a 
tent  in  which  eight  patients  were  lying.  Two  of 


in     THE  ATTACK  ON  THE  GOODS-WAGON     35 


them  were  badly  wounded  by  his  spring,  while 
a  third  poor  wretch  was  seized  and  dragged  off 
bodily  through  the  thorn  fence.  The  two  wounded 
coolies  were  left  where  they  lay,  a  piece  of  torn  tent 
having  fallen  over  them  ;  and  in  this  position  the 
doctor  and  I  found  them  on  our  arrival  soon  after 


"THE  TWO  WOUNDED  COOLIES  WERE  LEFT  WHERE  THEY  LAY,  A  PIECE 
OF  TORN  TENT  HAVING  FALLEN  OVER  THEM." 


dawn  next  morning.  We  at  once  decided  to  move 
the  hospital  closer  to  the  main  camp  ;  a  fresh  site 
was  prepared,  a  stout  hedge  built  round  the 
enclosure,  and  all  the  patients  were  moved  in  before 
nightfall. 

As  I  had  heard  that  lions  generally  visit  recently 

deserted  camps,  I  decided  to  sit  up  all  night  in  the 

D  2 


36  THE  MAN-EATERS  OF  TSAVO          CHAP. 

vacated  boma  in  the  hope  of  getting  an  opportunity 
of  bagging  one  of  them  ;  but  in  the  middle  of  my 
lonely  vigil  I  had  the  mortification  of  hearing  shrieks 
and  cries  coming  from  the  direction  of  the  new 
hospital,  telling  me  only  too  plainly  that  our 
dreaded  foes  had  once  more  eluded  me.  Hurrying 
to  the  place  at  daylight  I  found  that  one  of  the  lions 
had  jumped  over  the  newly  erected  fence  and  had 
carried  off  the  hospital  bhisti  (water-carrier),  and 
that  several  other  coolies  had  been  unwilling 
witnesses  of  the  terrible  scene  which  took  place 
within  the  circle  of  light  given  by  the  big  camp  fire. 
The  bhisti,  it  appears,  had  been  lying  on  the  floor, 
with  his  head  towards  the  centre  of  the  tent  and  his 
feet  nearly  touching  the  side.  The  lion  managed  to 
get  its  head  in  below  the  canvas,  seized  him  by  the 
foot  and  pulled  him  out.  In  desperation  the  un- 
fortunate water-carrier  clutched  hold  of  a  heavy  box 
in  a  vain  attempt  to  prevent  himself  being  carried 
off,  and  dragged  it  with  him  until  he  was  forced  to 
let  go  by  its  being  stopped  by  the  side  of  the  tent. 
He  then  caught  hold  of  a  tent  rope,  and  clung 
tightly  to  it  until  it  broke.  As  soon  as  the  lion 
managed  to  get  him  clear  of  the  tent,  he  sprang  at 
his  throat  and  after  a  few  vicious  shakes  the  poor 
bhisti s  agonising  cries  were  silenced  for  ever.  The 
brute  then  seized  him  in  his  mouth,  like  a  huge  cat 
with  a  mouse,  and  ran  up  and  down  the  boma 


in     THE  ATTACK  ON  THE  GOODS-WAGON    37 

looking  for  a  weak  spot  to  break  through.  This  he 
presently  found  and  plunged  into,  dragging  his 
victim  with  him  and  leaving  shreds  of  torn  cloth  and 
flesh  as  ghastly  evidences  of  his  passage  through 
the  thorns.  Dr.  Brock  and  I  were  easily  able  to 
follow  his  track,  and  soon  found  the  remains  about 
four  hundred  yards  away  in  the  bush.  There 
was  the  usual  horrible  sight.  Very  little  was  left 
of  the  unfortunate  bhisti — only  the  skull,  the  jaws, 
a  few  of  the  larger  bones  and  a  portion  of  the  palm 
with  one  or  two  fingers  attached.  On  one  of  these 
was  a  silver  ring,  and  this,  with  the  teeth  (a  relic 
much  prized  by  certain  castes),  was  sent  to  the 
man's  widow  in  India. 

Again  it  was  decided  to  move  the  hospital  ;  and 
again,  before  nightfall,  the  work  was  completed, 
including  a  still  stronger  and  thicker  boma.  When 
the  patients  had  been  moved,  I  had  a  covered 
goods-wagon  placed  in  a  favourable  position  on  a 
siding  which  ran  close  to  the  site  which  had  just 
been  abandoned,  and  in  this  Brock  and  I  arranged 
to  sit  up  that  night.  We  left  a  couple  of  tents  still 
standing  within  the  enclosure,  and  also  tied  up  a  few 
cattle  in  it  as  bait  for  the  lions,  who  had  been  seen 
in  no  less  than  three  different  places  in  the 
neighbourhood  during  the  afternoon  (April  23). 
Four  miles  from  Tsavo  they  had  attempted  to  seize 
a  coolie  who  was  walking  along  the  line.  Fortu- 


38  THE  MAN-EATERS  OF  TSAVO          CHAP. 

nately,  however,  he  had  just  time  to  escape  up  a 
tree,  where  he  remained,  more  dead  than  alive, 
until  he  was  rescued  by  the  Traffic  Manager,  who 
caught  sight  of  him  from  a  passing  train.  They 
next  appeared  close  to  Tsavo  Station,  and  a  couple 
of  hours  later  some  workmen  saw  one  of  the  lions 
stalking  Dr.  Brock  as  he  was  returning  about  dusk 
from  the  hospital. 

In  accordance  with  our  plan,  the  doctor  and  I  set 
out  after  dinner  for  the  goods-wagon,  which  was 
about  a  mile  away  from  our  hut.  In  the  light  of 
subsequent  events,  we  did  a  very  foolish  thing  in 
taking  up  our  position  so  late ;  nevertheless,  we 
reached  our  destination  in  safety,  and  settled  down 
to  our  watch  about  ten  o'clock.  We  had  the  lower 
half  of  the  door  of  the  wagon  closed,  while  the 
upper  half  was  left  wide  open  for  observation  :  and 
we  faced,  of  course,  in  the  direction  of  the  abandoned 
bovia,  which,  however,  we  were  unable  to  see  in  the 
inky  darkness.  For  an  hour  or  two  everything  was 
quiet,  and  the  deadly  silence  was  becoming  very 
monotonous  and  oppressive,  when  suddenly,  to  our 
right,  a  dry  twig  snapped,  and  we  knew  that  an 
animal  of  some  sort  was  about.  Soon  afterwards 
we  heard  a  dull  thud,  as  if  some  heavy  body  had 
jumped  over  the  boma.  The  cattle,  too,  became 
very  uneasy,  and  we  could  hear  them  moving  about 
restlessly.  Then  again  came  dead  silence. 


in    THE  ATTACK  ON  THE  GOODS-WAGON    39 

At  this  juncture  I  proposed  to  my  companion 
that  I  should  get  out  of  the  wagon  and  lie  on  the 
ground  close  to  it,  as  I  could  see  better  in  that 
position  should  the  lion  come  in  our  direction  with 
his  prey.  Brock,  however,  persuaded  me  to  remain 
where  I  was ;  and  a  few  seconds  afterwards  I  was 
heartily  glad  that  I  had  taken  his  advice,  for  at  that 
very  moment  one  of  the  man-eaters — although  we 
did  not  know  it — was  quietly  stalking  us,  and  was 
even  then  almost  within  springing  distance.  Orders 
had  been  given  for  the  entrance  to  the  boma  to  be 
blocked  up,  and  accordingly  we  were  listening  in 
the  expectation  of  hearing  the  lion  force  his  way 
out  through  the  bushes  with  his  prey.  As  a  matter 
of  fact,  however,  the  doorway  had  not  been  properly 
closed,  and  while  we  were  wondering  what  the  lion 
could  be  doing  inside  the  boma  for  so  long,  he  was 
outside  all  the  time,  silently  reconnoitring  our 
position. 

Presently  I  fancied  I  saw  something  coming  very 
stealthily  towards  us.  I  feared,  however,  to  trust 
to  my  eyes,  which  by  that  time  were  strained  by 
prolonged  staring  through  the  darkness,  so  under 
my  breath  I  asked  Brock  whether  he  saw  anything, 
at  the  same  time  covering  the  dark  object  as  well  as 
I  could  with  my  rifle.  Brock  did  not  answer  ;  he 
told  me  afterwards  that  he,  too,  thought  he  had  seen 
something  move,  but  was  afraid  to  say  so  lest  I 


40  THE  MAN-EATERS  OF  TSAVO         CH.  in 

should  fire  and  it  turn  out  to  be  nothing  after  all. 
After  this  there  was  intense  silence  again  for  a 
second  or  two,  then  with  a  sudden  bound  a  huge 
body  sprang  at  us.  "  The  lion  !  "  I  shouted,  and  we 
both  fired  almost  simultaneously — not  a  moment  too 
soon,  for  in  another  second  the  brute  would  assuredly 
have  landed  inside  the  wagon.  As  it  was,  he 
must  have  swerved  off  in  his  spring,  probably 
blinded  by  the  flash  and  frightened  by  the  noise  of 
the  double  report  which  was  increased  a  hundred- 
fold by  the  reverberation  of  the  hollow  iron  roof  of 
the  truck.  Had  we  not  been  very  much  on  the 
alert,  he  would  undoubtedly  have  got  one  of  us,  and 
we  realised  that  we  had  had  a  very  lucky  and  very 
narrow  escape.  The  next  morning  we  found  Brock's 
bullet  embedded  in  the  sand  close  to  a  footprint ;  it 
could  not  have  missed  the  lion  by  more  than  an 
inch  or  two.  Mine  was  nowhere  to  be  found. 

Thus  ended  my  first  direct  encounter  with  one  of 
the  man-eaters. 


CHAPTER  IV 

THE    BUILDING    OF    THE    TSAVO    BRIDGE 

DURING  all  this  troublesome  period  the  construc- 
tion of  the  railway  had  been  going  steadily  forward 
and  the  first  important  piece  of  work  which  I 
had  commenced  on  arrival  was  completed.  This 
was  the  widening  of  a  rock  cutting  through  which 
the  railway  ran  just  before  it  reached  the  river. 
In  the  hurry  of  pushing  on  the  laying  of  the  line, 
just  enough  of  the  rock  had  originally  been  cut 
away  to  allow  room  for  an  engine  to  pass,  and  con- 
sequently any  material  which  happened  to  project 
outside  the  wagons  or  trucks  caught  on  the  jagged 
faces  of  the  cutting.  I  myself  saw  the  door  of  a 
guard's  van,  which  had  been  left  ajar,  smashed  to 
atoms  in  this  way  ;  and  accordingly  I  put  a  gang  of 
rock-drillers  to  work  at  once  and  soon  had  ample 
room  made  for  all  traffic  to  pass  unimpeded.  While 
this  was  going  on,  another  gang  of  men  were  laying 
the  foundations  of  a  girder  bridge  which  was  to  span 


42  THE  MAN-EATERS  OF  TSAVO         CHAP. 

a  gully  between  this  cutting  and  Tsavo  Station. 
This  would  have  taken  too  long  to  erect  when  rail- 
head was  at  the  place,  so  a  diversion  had  been  made 
round  it,  the  temporary  track  leading  down  almost 
to  the  bed  of  the  nullah  and  up  again  on  the  further 
side.  When  the  foundations  and  abutments  were 
ready,  the  gully  was  spanned  by  an  iron  girder,  the 
slopes  leading  up  to  it  banked  up  on  either  side,  and 
the  permanent  way  laid  on  an  easy  grade. 

Then,  also,  a  water  supply  had  to  be  established  ; 
and  this  meant  some  very  pleasant  work  for  me  in 
taking  levels  up  the  banks  of  the  river  under  the 
cool  shade  of  the  palms.     While  doing  this,  I   often 
took  my  camp-kit  with  me,  and  a  luncheon  served 
in  the  wilds,  with  occasionally  a  friend  to  share  it— 
when  a  friend  was  available — was  delightful.     On 
one  occasion  in  particular,  I  went  a  long  way  up  the 
river  and  was  accompanied  by  a  young  member  of 
my  staff.     The  day  had  been  exceedingly  hot  and 
we  were  both  correspondingly  tired  when  our  work 
was  finished,  so  my  companion  suggested  that  we 
should  build  a  raft  and  float  down-stream  home.       I 
was  rather  doubtful  of  the  feasibility  of  the  scheme, 
but  nevertheless  he  decided  to  give  it  a  trial.     Set- 
ting to  work  with  our  axes,  we  soon  had  a  raft  built, 
lashing  the  poles  together  with  the  fibre  which  grows 
in  abundance  all  over  the  district.      When  it  was 
finished,   we  pushed  it  out  of  the    little   backwater 


iv     THE  BUILDING  OF  THE  TSAVO  BRIDGE    43 

where  it  had  been  constructed,  and  the  young 
engineer  jumped  aboard.  All  went  well  until  it  got 
out  into  midstream,  when  much  to  my  amusement 
it  promptly  toppled  gracefully  over.  I  helped  my 
friend  to  scramble  quickly  up  the  bank  out  of  reach 
of  possible  crocodiles,  when,  none  the  worse  for 


[THE  AUTHOR.] 


[MR.  c.  RAWSON.] 


:A    LUNCHEON    SERVED    IN    THE   WILDS,   WITH    OCCASIONALLY    A    FRIEND 
TO  SHARE   IT." 


his  ducking,  he    laughed    as    heartily   as    I   at  the 
adventure. 

Except  for  an  occasional  relaxation  of  this  sort, 
every  moment  of  my  time  was  fully  occupied. 
Superintending  the  various  works  and  a  hundred 
other  duties  kept  me  busy  all  day  long,  while  my 


44  THE  MAN-EATERS  OF  TSAVO         CHAP. 

evenings  were  given  up  to  settling  disputes  among 
the  coolies,  hearing  reports  and  complaints  from 
the  various  jemadars  and  workpeople,  and  in 
studying  the  Swahili  language.  Preparations,  too, 
for  the  principal  piece  of  work  in  the  district — the 
building  of  the  railway  bridge  over  the  Tsavo  river 
—were  going  on  apace.  These  involved  much 
personal  work  on  my  part ;  cross  and  oblique 
sections  of  the  river  had  to  be  taken,  the  rate  of  the 
current  and  the  volume  of  water  at  flood,  mean, 
and  low  levels  had  to  be  found,  and  all  the  necessary 
calculations  made.  These  having  at  length  been 
completed,  I  marked  out  the  positions  for  the 
abutments  and  piers,  and  the  work  of  sinking  their 
foundations  was  begun.  The  two  centre  piers  in 
particular  caused  a  great  deal  of  trouble,  as  the 
river  broke  in  several  times,  and  had  to  be  dammed 
up  and  pumped  dry  again  before  work  could  be 
resumed.  Then  we  found  we  had  to  sink  much 
deeper  than  we  expected  in  order  to  reach  a  solid 
foundation.  Indeed,  the  sinking  went  on  and  on, 
until  I  began  to  despair  of  finding  one  and  was 
about  to  resort  to  pile-driving,  when  at  last,  to  my 
relief,  we  struck  solid  rock  on  which  the  huge 
foundation-stones  could  be  laid  with  perfect  safety. 

Another  great  difficulty  with  which  we  had  to 
contend  was  the  absence  of  suitable  stone  in  the 
neighbourhood.  It  was  not  that  there  was  none  to 


iv    THE  BUILDING  OF  THE  TSAVO  BRIDGE    45 

be  found,  for  the  whole  district  abounds  in  rock, 
but  that  it  was  so  intensely  hard  as  to  be  almost 
impossible  to  work,  and  a  bridge  built  of  it  would 
have  been  very  costly.  I  spent  many  a  weary  day 
trudging  through  the  thorny  wilderness  vainly 
searching  for  suitable  material,  and  was  beginning 
to  think  that  we  should  be  forced  to  use  iron  columns 
for  the  piers,  when  one  day  I  stumbled  quite  by 
accident  on  the  very  thing.  Brock  and  I  were  out 
"  pot- hunting,"  and  hearing  some  guinea-fowl 
cackling  among  the  bushes,  I  made  a  circuit  half 
round  them  so  that  Brock,  on  getting  in  his  shot, 
should  drive  them  over  in  my  direction.  I  eventually 
got  into  position  on  the  edge  of  a  deep  ravine  and 
knelt  on  one  knee,  crouching  down  among  the  ferns. 
There  I  had  scarcely  time  to  load  when  over  flew  a 
bird,  which  I  missed  badly  ;  and  I  did  not  have 
another  chance,  for  Brock  had  got  to  work,  and 
being  a  first-rate  shot  had  quickly  bagged  a  brace. 
Meanwhile  I  felt  the  ground  very  hard  under  my 
knee,  and  on  examination  found  that  the  bank  of 
the  ravine  was  formed  of  stone,  which  extended  for 
some  distance,  and  which  was  exactly  the  kind  of 
material  for  which  I  had  long  been  fruitlessly 
searching.  I  was  greatly  delighted  with  my  un- 
expected discovery,  though  at  first  I  had  grave 
misgivings  about  the  distance  to  be  traversed  and 
the  difficulty  of  transporting  the  stone  across  the 


46  THE  MAN-EATERS  OF  TSAVO          CHAP. 

intervening  country.  Indeed,  I  found  in  the  end 
that  the  only  way  of  getting  the  material  to  the 
place  where  it  was  wanted  was  by  laying  down  a 
tram  line  right  along  the  ravine,  throwing  a 
temporary  bridge  across  the  Tsavo,  following  the 
stream  down  and  re-crossing  it  again  close  to  the 
site  of  the  permanent  bridge.  Accordingly,  I  set 

men  to  work  at  once  to 
cut  down  the  jungle  and 
prepare  a  road  on  which 
to  lay  the  double  trolley 
line.  One  morning  when 
they  were  thus  engaged, 
a  little  paa — a  kind  of  very 
small  antelope — sprang  out 

"  IT  VERY  SOON  BECAME  A  GREAT  i      r  i      •          ir  111 

PET_"  and  round  itself  suddenly 

in    the    midst    of  a   gang 

of  coolies.  Terrified  and  confused  by  the  shouting 
of  the  men,  it  ran  straight  at  Shere  Shah,  the 
jemadar,  who  promptly  dropped  a  basket  over  it 
and  held  it  fast.  I  happened  to  arrive  just  in  time 
to  save  the  graceful  little  animal's  life,  and  took  it 
home  to  my  camp,  where  it  very  soon  became  a 
great  pet.  indeed,  it  grew  so  tame  that  it  would 
jump  upon  my  table  at  meal  times  and  eat  from  my 
hand. 

When  the  road  for  the  trolley  line  was  cleared, 
the  next  piece  of  work  was  the  building  of  the  two 


iv    THE  BUILDING  OF  THE  TSAVO  BRIDGE    47 

temporary  bridges  over  the  river.  These  we  made 
in  the  roughest  fashion  out  of  palm  trees  and  logs 
felled  at  the  crossing  places,  and  had  a  flood  come 
down  they  would,  of  course,  have  both  been  swept 
away ;  fortunately,  however,  this  did  not  occur  until 
the  permanent  work  was  completed.  The  whole  of 


HEF.RA    SINGH    MADE     A    WILD    SPRING    INTO   THE    WATER   TO    GET   CLEAR 
OF   THE   FALLING   STONE." 


this  feeding  line  was  finished  in  a  very  short  time, 
and  trollies  were  soon  plying  backwards  and 
forwards  with  loads  of  stone  and  sand,  as  we  also 
discovered  the  latter  in  abundance  and  of  good 
quality  in  the  bed  of  the  ravine.  An  amusing 
incident  occurred  one  day  when  I  was  taking  a 
photograph  of  an  enormous  block  of  stone  which 


48  THE  MAN-EATERS  OF  TSAVO         CHAP. 

was  being  hauled  across  one  of  these  temporary 
bridges.  As  the  trolley  with  its  heavy  load  required 
very  careful  manipulation,  my  head  mason,  Heera 
Singh,  stood  on  the  top  of  the  stone  to  direct 
operations,  while  the  overseer,  Purshotam  Hurjee, 
superintended  the  gangs  of  men  who  hauled  the 
ropes  at  either  end  in  order  to  steady  it  up  and 
down  the  inclines.  But  we  did  not  know  that  the 
stream  had  succeeded  in  washing  away  the  founda- 
tions of  one  of  the  log  supports  ;  and  as  the  weight 
of  the  trolley  with  the  stone  came  on  the  under- 
mined pier,  the  rails  tilted  up  and  over  went  the 
whole  thing  into  the  river,  just  as  I  snapped  the 
picture.  Heera  Singh  made  a  wild  spring  into  the 
water  to  get  clear  of  the  falling  stone,  while 
Purshotam  and  the  rest  fled  as  if  for  their  lives  to 
the  bank.  It  was  altogether  a  most  comical  sight, 
and  an  extraordinary  chance  that  at  the  very  moment 
of  the  accident  I  should  be  taking  a  photograph  of 
the  operation.  Fortunately,  no  one  was  injured  in 
the  slightest,  and  the  stone  was  recovered  undamaged 
with  but  little  trouble. 

Not  long  after  this  occurrence  my  own  labours 
were  one  day  nearly  brought  to  a  sudden  and  un- 
pleasant end.  I  was  travelling  along  in  an  empty 
trolley  which,  pushed  by  two  sturdy  Pathans,  was 
returning  to  the  quarry  for  sand.  Presently  we 
came  to  the  sharp  incline  which  led  to  the  log  bridge 


iv    THE  BUILDING  OF  THE  TSAVO  BRIDGE    49 


over  the  river.  Here  it  was  the  custom  of  the  men, 
instead  of  running-  beside  the  trolley,  to  step  on  to 
it  and  to  let  its  own  momentum  take  it  down  the 
slope,  moderating  its  speed  when  necessary  by  a 
brake  in  the  shape  of  a  pole,  which  one  of  them 
carried  and  by  which  the  wheels  could  be  locked. 
On  this  occasion,  however,  the  pole  was  by  some 
accident  dropped  overboard,  and  down  the  hill  we 
flew  without  brake  of  any  kind.  Near  the  bridge 
there  was  a  sharp  curve  in  the  line,  where  I  was 
afraid  the  trolley  would  jump  the  rails ;  still,  I 
thought  it  was  better  to  stick  to  it  than  to  risk 
leaping  off.  A  moment  afterwards  I  felt  myself 
flying  head  first  over  the  edge  of  the  bridge,  just 
missing  by  a  hair's  breadth  a  projecting  beam  ;  but 
luckily  I  landed  on  a  sand  bank  at  the  side  of  the 

s 

river,  the  heavy  trolley  falling  clear  of  me  with  a 
dull  thud  close  by.  This  accident,  also,  was  happily 
unattended  by  injury  to  anyone. 


CHAPTER  V 

TROUBLES    WITH    THE    WORKMEN 

IT  seemed  fated  that  the  building  of  the  Tsavo 
Bridge  should  never  be  allowed  to  proceed  in  peace 
for  any  length  of  time.  I  have  already  described 
our  troubles  with  the  lions  ;  and  no  sooner  did  the 
beasts  of  prey  appear  to  have  deserted  us,  for  the 
time  being  at  any  rate,  than  other  troubles,  no  less 
serious,  arose  with  the  workmen  themselves.  After 
I  had  discovered  the  stone  for  the  bridge,  I  sent 
down  to  the  coast  for  gangs  of  masons  to  work  and 
dress  it.  The  men  who  were  sent  me  for  this 
purpose  were  mostly  Pathans  and  were  supposed  to 
be  expert  workmen  ;  but  I  soon  found  that  many 
of  them  had  not  the  faintest  notion  of  stone-cutting, 
and  were  simply  ordinary  coolies  who  had  posed  as 
masons  in  order  to  draw  forty-five  instead  of  twelve 
rupees  a  month.  On  discovering  this  fact,  I  imme- 
diately instituted  a  system  of  piece-work,  and  drew 
up  a  scale  of  pay  which  would  enable  the  genuine 


CH.  v      TROUBLES  WITH  THE  WORKMEN 


mason  to  earn  his  forty-five  rupees  a  month — and 
a  little  more  if  he  felt  inclined — and  would  cut  down 
the  impostors  to  about  their  proper  pay  as  coolies. 
Now,  as  is  often  the  case  in  this  world,  the  impostors 
were  greatly  in  the  majority  ;  and  accordingly  they 
attempted  to  intimidate  the  remainder  into  coming 
down  to  their  own  standard  as  regards  output  of 
work,  in  the  hope  of  thereby  inducing  me  to 
abandon  the  piece-work  system  of  payment.  This, 
however,  I  had  no  intention  of  doing,  as  I  knew 
that  I  had  demanded  only  a  perfectly  fair  amount 
of  work  from  each  man. 

These  masons  were  continually  having  quarrels 
and  fights  amongst  themselves,  and  I  had  frequently 
to  go  down  to  their  camp  to  quell  disturbances  and 
to  separate  the  Hindus  from  the  Mohammedans. 
One  particularly  serious  disturbance  of  this  sort  had 
a  rather  amusing  sequel.  I  was  sitting  after  dusk 
one  evening  at  the  door  of  my  hut,  when  I  heard  a 
great  commotion  in  the  masons'  camp,  which  lay 
only  a  few  hundred  yards  away.  Presently  a 
jemadar  came  rushing  up  to  me  to  say  that  the  men 
were  all  fighting  and  murdering  each  other  with 
sticks  and  stones.  I  ran  back  with  him  at  once  and 
succeeded  in  restoring  order,  but  found  seven  badly 
injured  men  lying  stretched  out  on  the  ground. 
These  I  had  carried  up  to  my  own  boma  on  charpoys 
(native  beds)  ;  and  Brock  being  away,  I  had  to  play 

E  2 


52  THE  MAN-EATERS  OF  TSAVO         CHAP. 

the  doctor  myself  as  best  I  could,  stitching  one  and 
bandaging  another  and  generally  doing  what  was 
possible.  There  was  one  man,  however,  who 
groaned  loudly  and  held  a  cloth  over  his  face  as 
if  he  were  dying.  On  lifting  this  covering,  I  found 
him  to  be  a  certain  mason  called  Karim  Bux,  who 
was  well  known  to  me  as  a  prime  mischief-maker 
among  the  men.  I  examined  him  carefully,  but  as 
I  could  discover  nothing  amiss,  I  concluded  that  he 
must  have  received  some  internal  injury,  and  accord- 
ingly told  him  that  I  would  send  him  to  the  hospital 
at  Voi  (about  thirty  miles  down  the  line)  to  be 
attended  to  properly.  He  was  then  carried  back  to 
his  camp,  groaning  grievously  all  the  time. 

Scarcely  had  he  been  removed,  when  the  head 
jemadar  came  and  informed  me  that  the  man  was 
not  hurt  at  all,  and  that  as  a  matter  of  fact  he  was 
the  sole  cause  of  the  disturbance.  He  was  now 
pretending  to  be  badly  injured,  in  order  to  escape  the 
punishment  which  he  knew  he  would  receive  if  I 
discovered  that  he  was  the  instigator  of  the  trouble. 
On  hearing  this,  I  gave  instructions  that  he  was  not 
to  go  to  Voi  in  the  special  train  with  the  others  ;  but 
I  had  not  heard  the  last  of  him  yet.  About  eleven 
o'clock  that  night  I  was  called  up  and  asked  to  go 
down  to  the  masons'  camp  to  see  a  man  who  was 
supposed  to  be  dying.  I  at  once  pulled  on  my  boots, 
got  some  brandy  and  ran  down  to  the  camp,  where 


v  TROUBLES  WITH  THE  WORKMEN          53 

to  my  surprise  and  amusement  I  found  that  it  was 
my  friend  Karim  Bux  who  was  at  death's  door.  It 
was  perfectly  evident  to  me  that  he  was  only 
"foxing,"  but  when  he  asked  for  dawa  (medicine), 
I  told  him  gravely  that  I  would  give  him  some  very 
good  dawa  in  the  morning. 

Next  day  at  noon — when  it  was  my  custom  to 
have  evil-doers  brought  up  for  judgment — I  asked  for 
Karim  Bux,  but  was  told  that  he  was  too  ill  to  walk. 
I  accordingly  ordered  him  to  be  carried  to  my  boma, 
and  in  a  few  moments  he  arrived  in  his  charpoy, 
which  was  shouldered  by  four  coolies  who,  I  could 
see,  knew  quite  well  that  he  was  only  shamming. 
There  were  also  a  score  or  so  of  his  friends  hanging 
around,  doubtless  waiting  in  the  expectation  of 
seeing  the  "Sahib"  hoodwinked.  When  the  bed 
was  placed  on  the  ground  near  me,  I  lifted  the 
blanket  with  which  he  had  covered  himself  and 
thoroughly  examined  him,  at  the  same  time  feeling 
him  to  make  sure  that  he  had  no  fever.  He 
pretended  to  be  desperately  ill  and  again  asked  for 
dawa  ;  but  having  finally  satisfied  myself  that  it  was 
as  \.\\e  jemadar  had  said — pure  budmashi  (devilment) 
— I  told  him  that  I  was  going  to  give  him  some  very 
effective  dawa,  and  carefully  covered  him  up  again, 
pulling  the  blanket  over  his  head.  I  then  got  a  big 
armful  of  shavings  from  a  carpenter's  bench  which 
was  close  by,  put  them  under  the  bed  and  set  fire  to 


54  THE  MAN-EATERS  OF  TSAVO          CHAP. 

them.  As  soon  as  the  sham  invalid  felt  the  heat,  he 
peeped  over  the  edge  of  the  blanket ;  and  when  he 
saw  the  smoke  and  flame  leaping  up  round  him,  he 
threw  the  blanket  from  him,  sprang  from  the  bed 
exclaiming  "  Beiman  skaitan!"  ("Unbelieving 
devil ! "),  and  fled  like  a  deer  to  the  entrance  of 
my  boma,  pursued  by  a  Sikh  sepoy,  who  got  in  a 
couple  of  good  whacks  on  his  shoulders  with  a  stout 
stick  before  he  effected  his  escape.  His  amused 
comrades  greeted  me  with  shouts  of  "  Shabash, 
Sahib!"  ("Well  done,  sir!"),  and  I  never  had  any 
further  trouble  with  Karim  Bux.  He  came  back 
later  in  the  day,  with  clasped  hands  imploring 
forgiveness,  which  I  readily  granted,  as  he  was  a 
clever  workman. 

A  few  days  after  this  incident  I  was  returning 
home  one  morning  from  a  tree  in  which  I  had  been 
keeping  watch  for  the  man-eaters  during  the 
previous  night.  Coming  unexpectedly  on  the 
quarry,  I  was  amazed  to  find  dead  silence  reigning 
and  my  rascals  of  workmen  all  stretched  out  in  the 
shade  under  the  trees  taking  it  very  easy — some 
sleeping,  some  playing  cards.  I  watched  their  pro- 
ceedings through  the  bushes  for  a  little  while,  and 
then  it  occurred  to  me  to  give  them  a  fright  by 
firing  my  rifle  over  their  heads.  On  the  report 
being  heard,  the  scene  changed  like  magic  :  each 
man  simply  flew  to  his  particular  work,  and  hammers 


v  TROUBLES  WITH  THE  WORKMEN          55 

and  chisels  resounded  merrily  and  energetically, 
where  all  had  been  silence  a  moment  before.  They 
thought,  of  course,  that  I  was  still  some  distance  off 
and  had  not  seen  them,  but  to  their  consternation  I 
shouted  to  them  that  they  were  too  late,  as  I  had 
been  watching  them  for  some  time.  I  fined  every 
man  present  heavily,  besides  summarily  degrading 
the  Headman,  who  had  thus  shown  himself  utterly 
unfit  for  his  position.  I  then  proceeded  to  my  hut, 
but  had  scarcely  arrived  there  when  two  of  the 
scoundrels  tottered  up  after  me,  bent  almost  double 
and  calling  Heaven  to  witness  that  I  had  shot  them 
both  in  the  back.  In  order  to  give  a  semblance  of 
truth  to  an  otherwise  bald  and  unconvincing  narra- 
tive, they  had  actually  induced  one  of  their  fellow 
workmen  to  make  a  few  holes  like  shot  holes  in  their 
backs,  and  these  were  bleeding  profusely.  Unfortu- 
nately for  them,  however,  I  had  been  carrying  a  rifle 
and  not  a  shot  gun,  and  they  had  also  forgotten  to 
make  corresponding  holes  in  their  clothing,  so  that 
all  they  achieved  by  this  elaborate  tissue  of  falsehood 
was  to  bring  on  themselves  the  derision  of  their 
comrades  and  the  imposition  of  an  extra  fine. 

Shortly  after  this,  when  the  masons  realised  that 
I  intended  to  make  each  man  do  a  fair  day's  work 
for  his  money,  and  would  allow  nothing  to  prevent 
this  intention  from  being  carried  out,  they  came  to 
the  conclusion  that  the  best  thing  to  do  would  be  to 


56  THE  MAN-EATERS  OF  TSAVO          CHAP. 

put  me  quietly  out  of  the  way.  Accordingly  they 
held  a  meeting  one  night,  all  being  sworn  to  secrecy, 
and  after  a  long  palaver  it  was  arranged  that  I  was 
to  be  murdered  next  day  when  I  made  my  usual 
visit  to  the  quarry.  My  body  was  to  be  thrown 
into  the  jungle,  where  of  course  it  would  soon  be 
devoured  by  wild  beasts,  and  then  they  were  to  say 
that  I  had  been  killed  and  eaten  by  a  lion.  To  this 
cheerful  proposal  every  man  present  at  the  meeting 
agreed,  and  affixed  his  finger-mark  to  a  long  strip  of 
paper  as  a  binding  token.  Within  an  hour  after  the 
meeting  had  dispersed,  however,  I  was  aroused  by 
one  of  the  conspirators,  who  had  crept  into  my  camp 
to  give  me  warning.  I  thanked  him  for  his  infor- 
mation, but  determined  to  go  to  the  quarry  in  the 
morning  all  the  same,  as  at  this  stage  of  affairs  I 
really  did  not  believe  that  they  were  capable  of 
carrying  out  such  a  diabolical  scheme,  and  was 
rather  inclined  to  think  that  the  informant  had  been 
sent  merely  to  frighten  me. 

Accordingly  the  next  morning  (September  6)  I 
started  off  as  usual  along  the  trolley  line  to  the 
lonely  quarry.  As  I  reached  a  bend  in  the  line, 
my  head  mason,  Heera  Singh,  a  very  good  man, 
crept  cautiously  out  of  the  bushes  and  warned 
me  not  to  proceed.  On  my  asking  him  the  reason, 
he  said  that  he  dared  not  tell,  but  that  he  and 
twenty  other  masons  were  not  going  to  work  that 


v  TROUBLES  WITH  THE  WORKMEN          57 

clay,  as  they  were  afraid  of  trouble  at  the  quarry. 
At  this  I  began  to  think  that  there  was  some- 
thing in  the  story  I  had  heard  overnight,  but  I 
laughingly  assured  him  there  would  be  no  trouble 
and  continued  on  my  way.  On  my  arrival  at  the 
quarry,  everything  seemed  perfectly  peaceful. 
All  the  men  were  working  away  busily,  but  after  a 
moment  or  two  I  noticed  stealthy  side  glances,  and 
felt  that  there  was  something  in  the  wind.  As  soon 
as  I  came  up  to  the  first  gang  of  workmen,  the 
jemadar,  a  treacherous-looking  villain,  informed  me 
that  the  men  working  further  up  the  ravine  had 
refused  to  obey  his  orders,  and  asked  me  if  I  would 
go  and  see  them.  I  felt  at  once  that  this  was  a 
device  to  lure  me  into  the  narrow  part  of  the  ravine, 
where,  with  gangs  in  front  of  me  and  behind  me, 
there  would  be  no  escape  ;  still  I  thought  I  would 
see  the  adventure  through,  whatever  came  of  it,  so 
I  accompanied  the  jemadar  up  the  gully.  When 
we  got  to  the  further  gang,  he  went  so  far  as  to 
point  out  the  two  men  who,  he  said,  had  refused  to 
do  what  he  told  them — I  suppose  he  thought  that 
as  I  was  never  to  leave  the  place  alive,  it  did  not 
matter  whom  he  complained  of.  I  noted  their 
names  in  my  pocket-book  in  my  usual  manner,  and 
turned  to  retrace  my  steps.  Immediately  a  yell  of 
rage  was  raised  by  the  whole  body  of  some  sixty 
men,  answered  by  a  similar  shout  from  those  I  had 


58  THE  MAN-EATERS  OF  TSAVO         CHAP. 

first  passed,  and  who  numbered  about  a  hundred. 
Both  groups  of  men,  carrying  crowbars  and  flourish- 
ing their  heavy  hammers,  then  closed  in  on  me  in 
the  narrow  part  of  the  ravine.  I  stood  still,  waiting 
for  them  to  act,  and  one  man  rushed  at  me,  seizing 
both  my  wrists  and  shouting  out  that  he  was  going 
to  "be  hung  and  shot  for  me '' —rather  a  curious 
way  of  putting  it,  but  that  was  his  exact  expression. 
I  easily  wrenched  my  arms  free,  and  threw  him 
from  me  ;  but  by  this  time  I  was  closely  hemmed 
in,  and  everywhere  I  looked  I  could  see  nothing 
but  evil  and  murderous-looking  faces.  One  burly 
brute,  afraid  to  be  the  first  to  deal  a  blow,  hurled 
the  man  next  him  at  me  ;  and  if  he  had  succeeded 
in  knocking  me  down,  I  am  certain  that  I  should 
never  have  got  up  again  alive.  As  it  was,  however, 
I  stepped  quickly  aside,  and  the  man  intended 
to  knock  me  down  was  himself  thrown  violently 
against  a  rock,  over  which  he  fell  heavily. 

This  occasioned  a  moment's  confusion,  of  which  I 
quickly  took  advantage.  I  sprang  on  to  the  top  of 
the  rock,  and  before  they  had  time  to  recover  them- 
selves I  had  started  haranguing  them  in  Hindustani. 
The  habit  of  obedience  still  held  them,  and  fortun- 
ately they  listened  to  what  I  had  to  say.  I  told  them 
that  I  knew  all  about  their  plot  to  murder  me,  and 
that  they  could  certainly  do  so  if  they  wished  ;  but 
that  if  they  did,  many  of  them  would  assuredly  be 


v  TROUBLES  WITH  THE  WORKMEN          59 

hanged  for  it,  as  the  Sirkar  (Government)   would 
soon  find  out  the  truth  and  would  disbelieve  their 
story  that  I  had  been  carried  off  by  a  lion.      I  said 
that  I  knew  quite  well  that  it  was  only  one  or  two 
scoundrels  among  them  who  had  induced  them  to 
behave  so  stupidly,  and  urged  them   not  to  allow 
themselves  to  be  made  fools  of  in  this  way.     Even 
supposing  they  were  to  carry  out  their  plan  of  killing 
me,  would  not  another  "  Sahib  "  at  once  be  set  over 
them,  and  might  he  not  be  an  even  harder  task- 
master ?     They  all  knew  that  I  was  just  and  fair  to 
the    real  worker  ;  it  was  only   the   scoundrels  and 
shirkers  who  had  anything  to   fear  from   me,  and 
were  upright,  self-respecting  Pathans  going  to  allow 
themselves  to  be  led  away  by  men  of  that  kind? 
Once  having  got  them  to  listen  to  me,  I  felt  a  little 
more  secure,  and  I  accordingly  went  on  to  say  that 
the  discontented  among  them  would  be  allowed  to 
return   at   once  to   Mombasa,    while    if  the    others 
resumed  work  and  I  heard  of  no  further  plotting,  I 
would    take    no    notice    of    their    foolish    conduct. 
Finally  I    called   upon   those   who  were  willing  to 
return  to  work  to  hold  up  their  hands,  and  instantly 
every  hand  in  the  crowd  was  raised.      I    then  felt 
that  for  the  moment  the  victory  was  mine,  and  after 
dismissing  them,  I  jumped  down  from  the  rock  and 
continued  my  rounds  as  if  nothing  had  happened, 
measuring  a  stone  here  and  there  and  commenting 


60  THE  MAN-EATERS  OF  TSAVO          CH.  v 

on  the  work  done.  They  were  still  in  a  very  un- 
certain and  sullen  mood,  however,  and  not  at  all 
to  be  relied  upon,  so  it  was  with  feelings  of  great 
relief  that  an  hour  later  I  made  my  way  back,  safe 
and  sound,  to  Tsavo. 

The  danger  was  not  yet  past,  unfortunately,  for 
scarcely  had  I  turned  my  back  to  go  home  when 
the  mutiny  broke  out  again,  another  meeting  being 
held,  and  a  fresh  plot  made  to  murder  me  during 
the  night.  Of  this  I  was  soon  informed  by  my 
time-keeper,  who  also  told  me  that  he  was  afraid  to 
go  out  and  call  the  roll,  as  they  had  threatened  to 
kill  him  also.  At  this  further  outrage  I  lost  no 
time  in  telegraphing  for  the  Railway  Police,  and 
also  to  the  District  Officer,  Mr.  Whitehead,  who 
immediately  marched  his  men  twenty-five  miles  by 
road  to  my  assistance.  I  have  no  doubt,  indeed, 
that  his  prompt  action  alone  saved  me  from  being 
attacked  that  very  night.  Two  or  three  days  after- 
wards the  Railway  Police  arrived  and  arrested  the 
ringleaders  in  the  mutiny,  who  were  taken  to 
Mombasa  and  tried  before  Mr.  Crawford,  the  British 
Consul,  when  the  full  details  of  the  plots  to  murder  me 
were  unfolded  by  one  of  them  who  turned  Queen's 
evidence.  All  the  scoundrels  were  found  guilty  and 
sentenced  to  various  terms  of  imprisonment  in  the 
chain-gangs,  and  I  was  never  again  troubled  with 
mutinous  workmen. 


CHAPTER    VI 

THE    REIGN    OF    TERROR 

THE  lions  seemed  to  have  got  a  bad  fright  the  night 
Brock  and  I  sat  up  in  wait  for  them  in  the  goods- 
wagon,  for  they  kept  away  from  Tsavo  and  did  not 
molest  us  in  any  way  for  some  considerable  time — 
not,  in  fact,  until  long  after  Brock  had  left  me  and 
gone  on  safari  (a  caravan  journey)  to  Uganda.  In 
this  breathing  space  which  they  vouchsafed  us,  it 
occurred  to  me  that  should  they  renew  their  attacks, 
a  trap  would  perhaps  offer  the  best  chance  of  getting 
at  them,  and  that  if  I  could  construct  one  in  which 
a  couple  of  coolies  might  be  used  as  bait  without 
being  subjected  to  any  danger,  the  lions  would  be 
quite  daring  enough  to  enter  it  in  search  of  them 
and  thus  be  caught.  I  accordingly  set  to  work  at 
once,  and  in  a  short  time  managed  to  make  a 
sufficiently  strong  trap  out  of  wooden  sleepers, 
tram-rails,  pieces  of  telegraph  wire,  and  a  length  of 
heavy  chain.  It  was  divided  into  two  compart- 


62 


THE  MAN-EATERS  OF  TSAVO 


CHAP. 


ments — one  for  the  men  and  one  for  the  lion.  A 
sliding  door  at  one  end  admitted  the  former,  and 
once  inside  this  compartment  they  were  perfectly 
safe,  as  between  them  and  the  lion,  if  he  entered 
the  other,  ran  a  cross  wall  of  iron  rails  only  three 
inches  apart,  and  embedded  both  top  and  bottom  in 


"THE  DOOR  WHICH  WAS  TO  ADMIT  THE  LION." 


heavy  wooden  sleepers.  The  door  which  was  to 
admit  the  lion  was,  of  course,  at  the  opposite  end  of 
the  structure,  but  otherwise  the  whole  thing  was  very 
much  on  the  principle  of  the  ordinary  rat-trap, 
except  that  it  was  not  necessary  for  the  lion  to  seize 
the  bait  in  order  to  send  the  door  clattering  down. 
This  part  of  the  contrivance  was  arranged  in  the 


vi  .THE  REIGN  OF  TERROR  63 

following  manner.  A  heavy  chain  was  secured 
along  the  top  part  of  the  lion's  doorway,  the  ends 
hanging  down  to  the  ground  on  either  side  of  the 
opening ;  and  to  these  were  fastened,  strongly 
secured  by  stout  wire,  short  lengths  of  rails  placed 
about  six  inches  apart.  This  made  a  sort  of  flexible 
door  which  could  be  packed  into  a  small  space  when 
not  in  use,  and  which  abutted  against  the  top  of  the 
doorway  when  lifted  up.  The  door  was  held  in  this 
position  by  a  lever  made  of  a  piece  of  rail,  which  in 
turn  was  kept  in  its  place  by  a  wire  fastened  to  one 
end  and  passing  down  to  a  spring  concealed  in  the 
ground  inside  the  cage.  As  soon  as  the  lion  entered 
sufficiently  far  into  the  trap,  he  would  be  bound  to 
tread  on  the  spring ;  his  weight  on  this  would 
release  the  wire,  and  in  an  instant  down  would  come 
the  door  behind  him  ;  and  he  could  not  push  it  out 
in  any  way,  as  it  fell  into  a  groove  between  two 
rails  firmly  embedded  in  the  ground. 

In  making  this  trap,  which  cost  us  a  lot  of  work, 
we  were  rather  at  a  loss  for  want  of  tools  to  bore 
holes  in  the  rails  for  the  doorway,  so  as  to  enable 
them  to  be  fastened  by  the  wire  to  the  chain.  It 
occurred  to  me,  however,  that  a  hard-nosed  bullet 
from  my  '303  would  penetrate  the  iron,  and  on 
making  the  experiment  I  was  glad  to  find  that  a 
hole  was  made  as  cleanly  as  if  it  had  been  punched 
out. 


THE  MAN-EATERS  OF  TSAVO 


CHAP. 


When  the  trap  was  ready  I  pitched  a  tent  over  it 
in  order  further  to  deceive  the  lions,  and  built  an 
exceedingly  strong  boma  round  it.  One  small 
entrance  was  made  at  the  back  of  the  enclosure  for 
the  men,  which  they  were  to  close  on  going  in  by, 
pulling  a  bush  after  them  ;  and  another  entrance 


"WHEN  THE  TRAP  WAS  READY,  i  PITCHED  A  TEXT  OVER  IT." 

just  in  front  of  the  door  of  the  cage  was  left  open 
for  the  lions.  The  wiseacres  to  whom  I  showed 
my  invention  were  generally  of  the  opinion  that  the 
man-eaters  would  be  too  cunning  to  walk  into  my 
parlour  ;  but,  as  will  be  seen  later,  their  predictions 
proved  false.  For  the  first  few  nights  I  baited  the 
trap  myself,  but  nothing  happened  except  that  I  had 


vi  THE  REIGN  OF  TERROR  65 


a  very  sleepless  and  uncomfortable  time,  and  was 
badly  bitten  by  mosquitoes. 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  it  was  some  months  before 
the   lions  attacked  us  again,   though  from  time   to 
time   we    heard    of    their    depredations     in    other 
quarters.      Not  long  after  our  night  in  the   goods- 
wagon,   two    men   were    carried  off  from    railhead, 
while  another  was  taken  from  a  place  called  Engo- 
mani,  about  ten  miles  away.     Within  a  very  short 
time,   this    latter   place    was    again   visited    by    the 
brutes,  two  more  men  being  seized,  one  of  whom 
was    killed    and    eaten,    and    the    other    so    badly 
mauled    that   he    died    within   a    few    days.     As    I 
have  said,  however,  we  at  Tsavo  enjoyed  complete 
immunity  from    attack,  and    the    coolies,    believing 
that  their  dreaded   foes   had  permanently  deserted 
the  district,  resumed  all  their  usual  habits  and  occu- 
pations, and  life  in  the  camps  returned  to  its  normal 
routine. 

At  last  we  were  suddenly  startled  out  of  this 
feeling  of  security.  One  dark  night  the  familiar 
terror-sticken  cries  and  screams  awoke  the  camps, 
and  we  knew  that  the  "  demons"  had  returned  and 
had  commenced  a  new  list  of  victims.  On  this 
occasion  a  number  of  men  had  been  sleeping 
outside  their  tents  for  the  sake  of  coolness,  thinking, 
of  course,  that  the  lions  had  gone  for  good,  when 
suddenly  in  the  middle  of  the  night  one  of  the  brutes 

F 


66  THE  MAN-EATERS  OF  TSAVO          CHAP. 

was  discovered  forcing  its  way  through  the  boma. 
The  alarm  was  at  once  given,  and  sticks,  stones  and 
firebrands  were  hurled  in  the  direction  of  the 
intruder.  All  was  of  no  avail,  however,  for  the 
lion  burst  into  the  midst  of  the  terrified  group, 
seized  an  unfortunate  wretch  amid  the  cries  and 
shrieks  of  his  companions,  and  dragged  him  off 
through  the  thick  thorn  fence.  He  was  joined 
outside  by  the  second  lion,  and  so  daring  had  the 
two  brutes  become  that  they  did  not  trouble  to  carry 
their  victim  any  further  away,  but  devoured  him 
within  thirty  yards  of  the  tent  where  he  had  been 
seized.  Although  several  shots  were  fired  in  their 
direction  by  the  jemadar  of  the  gang  to  which  the 
coolie  belonged,  they  took  no  notice  of  these  and 
did  not  attempt  to  move  until  their  horrible  meal 
was  finished.  The  few  scattered  fragments  that 
remained  of  the  body  I  would  not  allow  to  be 
buried  at  once,  hoping  that  the  lions  would  return 
to  the  spot  the  following  night  ;  and  on  the  chance 
of  this  I  took  up  my  station  at  nightfall  in  a  con- 
venient tree.  Nothing  occurred  to  break  the 
monotony  of  my  watch,  however,  except  that  I  had 
a  visit  from  a  hysena,  and  the  next  morning  I 
learned  that  the  lions  had  attacked  another  camp 
about  two  miles  from  Tsavo — for  by  this  time  the 
camps  were  again  scattered,  as  I  had  works  in 
progress  all  up  and  down  the  line.  There  the 


vi  THE  REIGN  OF  TERROR  67 

man-eaters  had  been  successful  in  obtaining  a 
victim,  whom,  as  in  the  previous  instance,  they 
devoured  quite  close  to  the  camp.  How  they 
forced  their  way  through  the  bomas  without  making 
a  noise  was,  and  still  is,  a  mystery  to  me ;  I  should 
have  thought  that  it  was  next  to  impossible  for 
an  animal  to  get  through  at  all.  Yet  they  con- 
tinually did  so,  and  without  a  sound  being  heard. 

After  this  occurrence,  I  sat  up  every  night  for 
over  a  week  near  likely  camps,  but  all  in  vain. 
Either  the  lions  saw  me  and  then  went  elsewhere, 
or  else  I  was  unlucky,  for  they  took  man  after  man 
from  different  places  without  ever  once  giving  me  a 
chance  of  a  shot  at  them.  This  constant  night 
watching  was  most  dreary  and  fatiguing  work,  but  I 
felt  that  it  was  a  duty  that  had  to  be  undertaken,  as 
the  men  naturally  looked  to  me  for  protection.  In 
the  whole  of  my  life  I  have  never  experienced  any- 
thing more  nerve-shaking  than  to  hear  the  deep 
roars  of  these  dreadful  monsters  growing  gradually 
nearer  and  nearer,  and  to  know  that  some  one 
or  other  of  us  was  doomed  to  be  their  victim  before 
morning  dawned.  Once  they  reached  the  vicinity  of 
the  camps,  the  roars  completely  ceased,  and  we 
knew  that  they  were  stalking  for  their  prey. 
Shouts  would  then  pass  from  camp  to  camp, 
"  Khabar  dar,  bhaieon,  shaitan  ata "  ("  Beware, 
brothers,  the  devil  is  coming"),  but  the  warning 

F  2 


68  THE  MAN-EATERS  OF  TSAVO         CHAP. 

cries  would  prove  of  no  avail,  and  sooner  or  later 
agonising  shrieks  would  break  the  silence  and 
another  man  would  be  missing  from  roll-call  next 
morning. 

I  was  naturally  very  disheartened  at  being  foiled 
in  this  way  night  after  night,  and  was  soon  at 
my  wits'  end  to  know  what  to  do ;  it  seemed 
as  if  the  lions  were  really  "  devils "  after  all  and 
bore  a  charmed  life.  As  I  have  said  before,  track- 
ing them  through  the  jungle  was  a  hopeless  task  ; 
but  as  something  had  to  be  done  to  keep  up  the 
men's  spirits,  I  spent  many  a  weary  day  crawling  on 
my  hands  and  knees  through  the  dense  undergrowth 
of  the  exasperating  wilderness  around  us.  As  a 
matter  of  fact,  if  I  had  come  up  with  the  lions 
on  any  of  these  expeditions,  it  was  much  more 
likely  that  they  would  have  added  me  to  their  list 
of  victims  than  that  I  should  have  succeeded  in 
killing  either  of  them,  as  everything  would  have 
been  in  their  favour.  About  this  time,  too,  I  had 
many  helpers,  and  several  officers — civil,  naval  and 
military — came  to  Tsavo  from  the  coast  and  sat  up 
night  after  night  in  order  to  get  a  shot  at  our  daring 
foes.  All  of  us,  however,  met  with  the  same  lack  of 
success,  and  the  lions  always  seemed  capable  of 
avoiding  the  watchers,  while  succeeding  at  the  same 
time  in  obtaining  a  victim. 

I  have  a  very  vivid  recollection  of  one  particular 


vi  THE  REIGN  OF  TERROR  69 

night  when  the  brutes  seized  a  man  from  the  railway 
station  and  brought  him  close  to  my  camp  to 
devour.  I  could  plainly  hear  them  crunching  the 
bones,  and  the  sound  of  their  dreadful  purring  filled 
the  air  and  rang  in  my  ears  for  days  afterwards. 
The  terrible  thing  was  to  feel  so  helpless  ;  it  was 
useless  to  attempt  to  go  out,  as  of  course  the  poor 
fellow  was  dead,  and  in  addition  it  was  so  pitch 
dark  as  to  make  it  impossible  to  see  anything. 
Some  half  a  dozen  workmen,  who  lived  in  a  small 
enclosure  close  to  mine,  became  so  terrified  on  hear- 
ing the  lions  at  their  meal  that  they  shouted  and 
implored  me  to  allow  them  to  come  inside  my  boma. 
This  I  willingly  did,  but  soon  afterwards  I  remem- 
bered that  one  man  had  been  lying  ill  in  their  camp, 
and  on  making  enquiry  I  found  that  they  had 
callously  left  him  behind  alone.  I  immediately  took 
some  men  with  me  to  bring  him  to  my  boma,  but  on 
entering  his  tent  I  saw  by  the  light  of  the  lantern 
that  the  poor  fellow  was  beyond  need  of  safety. 
He  had  died  of  shock  at  being  deserted  by  his 
companions. 

From  this  time  matters  gradually  became  worse 
and  worse.  Hitherto,  as  a  rule,  only  one  of  the 
man-eaters  had  made  the  attack  and  had  done  the 
foraging,  while  the  other  waited  outside  in  the  bush  ; 
but  now  they  began  to  change  their  tactics,  entering 
the  bomas  together  and  each  seizing  a  victim.  In 


7o 


THE  MAN-EATERS  OF  TSAVO 


CHAP. 


this  way  two  Swahili  porters  were  killed  during  the 
last  week  of  November,  one  being  immediately 
carried  off  and  devoured.  The  other  was  heard 
moaning  for  a  long  time,  and  when  his  terrified  com- 
panions at  last  summoned  up  sufficient  courage  to  go 
to  his  assistance,  they  found  him  stuck  fast  in  the 


"THEY  FOUND  HIM  STUCK  FAST  IN  THE  BUSHES  OF  THE  Boma" 

bushes  of  the  boma,  through  which  for  once  the  lion 
had  apparently 'been  unable  to  drag  him.  He  was 
still  alive  when  I  saw  him  next  morning,  but  so 
terribly  mauled  that  he  died  before  he  could  be  got 
to  the  hospital. 

Within  a  few  days  of  this  the  two  brutes  made  a 
most  ferocious  attack  on   the  largest   camp   in   the 


vi  THE  REIGN  OF  TERROR  71 

section,  which  for  safety's  sake  was  situated  within  a 
stone's  throw  of  Tsavo  Station  and  close  to  a 
Permanent  Way  Inspector's  iron  hut.  Suddenly  in 
the  dead  of  night  the  two  man-eaters  burst  in  among 
the  terrified  workmen,  and  even  from  my  boma, 
some  distance  away,  1  could  plainly  hear  the  panic- 
stricken  shrieking  of  the  coolies.  Then  followed 
cries  of  "  They've  taken  him  ;  they've  taken  him," 
as  the  brutes  carried  off  their  unfortunate  victim  and 
began  their  horrible  feast  close  beside  the  camp. 
The  Inspector,  Mr.  Dalgairns,  fired  over  fifty  shots 
in  the  direction  in  which  he  heard  the  lions,  but  they 
were  not  to  be  frightened  and  calmly  lay  there  until 
their  meal  was  finished.  After  examining  the  spot 
in  the  morning,  we  at  once  set  out  to  follow  the 
brutes,  Mr.  Dalgairns  feeling  confident  that  he  had 
wounded  one  of  them,  as  there  was  a  trail  on  the 
sand  like  that  of  the  toes  of  a  broken  limb.  After 
some  careful  stalking,  we  suddenly  found  ourselves 
in  the  vicinity  of  the  lions,  and  were  greeted  with 
ominous  growlings.  Cautiously  advancing  and 
pushing  the  bushes  aside,  we  saw  in  the  gloom  what 
we  at  first  took  to  be  a  lion  cub  ;  closer  inspection, 
however,  showed  it  to  be  the  remains  of  the 
unfortunate  coolie,  which  the  man-eaters  had 
evidently  abandoned  at  our  approach.  The  legs, 
one  arm  and  half  the  body  had  been  eaten,  and  it 
was  the  stiff  fingers  of  the  other  arm  trailing  along 


72  THE  MAN-EATERS  OF  TSAVO          CHAP. 

the  sand  which  had  left  the  marks  we  had  taken  to 
be  the  trail  of  a  wounded  lion.  By  this  time  the 
beasts  had  retired  far  into  the  thick  jungle  where  it 
was  impossible  to  follow  them,  so  we  had  the 
remains  of  the  coolie  buried  and  once  more  returned 
home  disappointed. 

Now  the  bravest  men  in  the  world,  much  less  the 
ordinary  Indian  coolie,  will  not  stand  constant 
terrors  of  this  sort  indefinitely.  The  whole  district 
was  by  this  time  thoroughly  panic-stricken,  and  I 
was  not  at  all  surprised,  therefore,  to  find  on  my 
return  to  camp  that  same  afternoon  (December  i) 
that  the  men  had  all  struck  work  and  were  waiting 
to  speak  to  me.  When  I  sent  for  them,  they  flocked 
to  my  boma  in  a  body  and  stated  that  they  would 
not  remain  at  Tsavo  any  longer  for  anything  or  any- 
body ;  they  had  come  from  India  on  an  agreement 
to  work  for  the  Government,  not  to  supply  food  for 
either  lions  or  "devils."  No  sooner  had  they 
delivered  this  ultimatum  than  a  regular  stampede 
took  place.  Some  hundreds  of  them  stopped  the 
first  passing  train  by  throwing  themselves  on  the 
rails  in  front  of  the  engine,  and  then,  swarming  on 
to  the  trucks  and  throwing  in  their  possessions 
anyhow,  they  fled  from  the  accursed  spot. 

After  this  the  railway  works  were  completely 
stopped ;  and  for  the  next  three  weeks  practically 
nothing  was  done  but  build  "lion-proof"  huts  for 


VI 


THE  REIGN  OF  TERROR 


73 


those  workmen  who  had  had  sufficient  courage  to 
remain.  It  was  a  strange  and  amusing  sight  to  see 
these  shelters  perched  on  the  top  of  water-tanks, 


"PERCHED  ON  THE  TOP  OF  WATER-TANKS." 

roofs  and  girders — anywhere  for  safety — while  some 
even  went  so  far  as  to  dig  pits  inside  their  tents,  into 
which  they  descended  at  night,  covering  the  top  over 
with  heavy  logs  of  wood.  Every  good-sized  tree  in 


74  THE  MAN-EATERS  OF  TSAVO         CH.  vi 

the  camp  had  as  many  beds  lashed  on  to  it  as  its 
branches  would  bear — and  sometimes  more.  I 
remember  that  one  night  when  the  camp  was 
attacked,  so  many  men  swarmed  on  to  one  par- 
ticular tree  that  down  it  came  with  a  crash,  hurling 
its  terror-stricken  load  of  shrieking  coolies  close  to 
the  very  lions  they  were  trying  to  avoid.  Fortu- 
nately for  them,  a  victim  had  already  been  secured, 
and  the  brutes  were  too  busy  devouring  him  to  pay 
attention  to  anything  else. 


CHAPTER   VII 

THE    DISTRICT   OFFICER'S    NARROW    ESCAPE 

SOME  little  time  before  the  flight  of  the  workmen, 
I  had  written  to  Mr.  Whitehead,  the  District  Officer, 
asking  him  to  come  up  and  assist  me  in  my  cam- 
paign against  the  lions,  and  to  bring  with  him  any 
of  his  askaris  (native  soldiers)  that  he  could  spare. 
He  replied  accepting  the  invitation,  and  told  me  to 
expect  him  about  dinner-time  on  December  2,  which 
turned  out  to  be  the  day  after  the  exodus.  His 
train  was  due  at  Tsavo  about  six  o'clock  in  the 
evening,  so  I  sent  my  "boy"  up  to  the  station  to 
meet  him  and  to  help  in  carrying  his  baggage  to  the 
camp.  In  a  very  short  time,  however,  the  "boy" 
rushed  back  trembling  with  terror,  and  informed  me 
that  there  was  no  sign  of  the  train  or  of  the  railway 
staff,  but  that  an  enormous  lion  was  standing  on  the 
station  platform.  This  extraordinary  story  I  did 
not  believe  in  the  least,  as  by  this  time  the  coolies 
—never  remarkable  for  bravery — were  in  such  a 


76  THE  MAN-EATERS  OF  TSAVO         CHAP. 

state  of  fright  that  if  they  caught  sight  of  a  hyaena, 
or  a  baboon,  or  even  a  dog,  in  the  bush,  they  were 
sure  to  imagine  it  was  a  lion  ;  but  I  found  out  next 
day  that  it  was  an  actual  fact,  and  that  both  station- 
master  and  signalman  had  been  obliged  to  take 
refuge  from  one  of  the  man-eaters  by  locking  them- 
selves in  the  station  building. 

I  waited  some  little  time  for  Mr.  Whitehead,  but 
eventually,  as  he  did  not  put  in  an  appearance,  I 
concluded  that  he  must  have  postponed  his  journey 
until  the  next  day,  and  so  had  my  dinner  in  my 
customary  solitary  state.  During  the  meal  I  heard  a 
couple  of  shots,  but  paid  no  attention  to  them,  as 
rifles  were  constantly  being  fired  off  in  the  neigh- 
bourhood of  the  camp.  Later  in  the  evening,  I 
went  out  as  usual  to  watch  for  our  elusive  foes,  and 
took  up  my  position  in  a  crib  made  of  sleepers 
which  I  had  built  on  a  big  girder  close  to  a  camp 
which  I  thought  was  likely  to  be  attacked.  Soon 
after  settling  down  at  my  post,  I  was  surprised  to 
hear  the  man-eaters  growling  and  purring  and 
crunching  up  bones  about  seventy  yards  from  the 
crib.  I  could  not  understand  what  they  had  found 
to  eat,  as  I  had  heard  no  commotion  in  the  camps, 
and  I  knew  by  bitter  experience  that  every  meal  the 
brutes  obtained  from  us  was  announced  by  shrieks 
and  uproar.  The  only  conclusion  I  could  come  to 
was  that  they  had  pounced  upon  some  poor  un- 


vii     DISTRICT  OFFICER'S  NARROW  ESCAPE      77 

suspecting  native  traveller.  After  a  time  I  was  able 
to  make  out  their  eyes  glowing  in  the  darkness,  and 
I  took  as  careful  aim  as  was  possible  in  the  circum- 
stances and  fired  ;  but  the  only  notice  they  paid  to 
the  shot  was  to  carry  off  whatever  they  were 
devouring  and  to  retire  quietly  over  a  slight  rise, 


"I   TOOK    UP    MY   POSITION    IN   A   CRIB   MADE   OF   SLEEPERS." 

which  prevented  me  from  seeing  them.     There  they 
finished  their  meal  at  their  ease. 

As  soon  as  it  was  daylight,  I  got  out  of  my  crib 
and  went  towards  the  place  where  I  had  last  heard 
them.  On  the  way,  whom  should  I  meet  but  my 
missing  guest,  Mr.  Whitehead,  looking  very  pale 
and  ill,  and  generally  dishevelled. 


78  THE  MAN-EATERS  OF  TSAVO         CHAP. 


"Where  on  earth  have  you  come  from?"  I 
exclaimed.  "  Why  didn't  you  turn  up  to  dinner  last 
night  ?  " 

"  A  nice  reception  you  give  a  fellow  when  you 
invite  him  to  dinner,"  was  his  only  reply. 

"  Why,  what's  up  ?  "  I  asked. 

"  That  infernal  lion  of  yours  nearly  did  for  me 
last  night,"  said  Whitehead. 

"  Nonsense,  you  must  have  dreamed  it !  "  I  cried 
in  astonishment. 

For  answer  he  turned  round  and  showed  me  his 
back.  "  That's  not  much  of  a  dream,  is  it  ?  "  he 
asked. 

His  clothing  was  rent  by  one  huge  tear  from  the 
nape  of  the  neck  downwards,  and  on  the  flesh  there 
were  four  great  claw  marks,  showing  red  and  angry 
through  the  torn  cloth.  Without  further  parley,  I 
hurried  him  off  to  my  tent,  and  bathed  and  dressed 
his  wounds  ;  and  when  I  had  made  him  considerably 
more  comfortable,  I  got  from  him  the  whole  story 
of  the  events  of  the  night. 

It  appeared  that  his  train  was  very  late,  so  that  it 
was  quite  dark  when  he  arrived  at  Tsavo  Station, 
from  which  the  track  to  my  camp  lay  through  a 
small  cutting.  He  was  accompanied  by  Abdullah, 
his  sergeant  of  askaris,  who  walked  close  behind 
him  carrying  a  lighted  lamp.  All  went  well  until 
they  were  about  half-way  through  the  gloomy 


vii     DISTRICT  OFFICER'S  NARROW  ESCAPE     79 


cutting,  when  one  of  the  lions  suddenly  jumped 
down  upon  them  from  the  high  bank,  knocking 
Whitehead  over  like  a  ninepin,  and  tearing  his  back 
in  the  manner  I  had  seen.  Fortunately,  however, 
he  had  his  carbine  with  him,  and  instantly  fired. 
The  flash  and  the  loud  report  must  have  dazed  the 


WHITEHEAD    ON      A    TROLLEY    AT     THE    EXACT    SPOT    WHERE    THE     LION 
JUMPED    UPON    HIM. 


lion  for  a  second  or  two,  enabling  Whitehead  to 
disengage  himself;  but  the  next  instant  the  brute 
pounced  like  lightning  on  the  unfortunate  Abdullah, 
with  whom  he  at  once  made  off.  All  that  the  poor 
fellow  could  say  was:  "Eh,  Bwana,  simba"  ("Oh, 
Master,  a  lion  ").  As  the  lion  was  dragging  him  over 
the  bank,  Whitehead  fired  again,  but  without  effect, 


8o 


THE  MAN-EATERS  OF  TSAVO 


CHAP. 


and  the  brute  quickly  disappeared  into  the  darkness 
with  his  prey.  It  was,  of  course,  this  unfortunate 
man  whom  I  had  heard  the  lions  devouring  during 


ABDULLAH   AND    HIS   TWO   WIVES. 


the    night.     Whitehead    himself  had   a    marvellous 
escape  ;  his  wounds  were  happily  not  very  deep,  and 
caused  him  little  or  no  inconvenience  afterwards. 
On  the  same  day,  December  3,  the  forces  arrayed 


vii     DISTRICT  OFFICER'S  NARROW  ESCAPE     81 

against  the  lions  were  further  strengthened.  Mr. 
Farquhar,  the  Superintendent  of  Police,  arrived  from 
the  coast  with  a  score  of  sepoys  to  assist  in  hunting 
down  the  man-eaters,  whose  fame  had  by  this  time 
spread  far  and  wide,  and  the  most  elaborate  pre- 
cautions were  taken,  his  men  being  posted  on  the 
most  convenient  trees  near  every  camp.  Several 
other  officials  had  also  come  up  on  leave  to  join  in 
the  chase,  and  each  of  these  guarded  a  likely  spot 
in  the  same  way,  Mr.  Whitehead  sharing  my  post 
inside  the  crib  on  the  girder.  Further,  in  spite  of 
some  chaff,  my  lion  trap  was  put  in  thorough 
working  order,  and  two  of  the  sepoys  were  installed 
as  bait. 

Our  preparations  were  quite  complete  by  night- 
fall, and  we  all  took  up  our  appointed  positions. 
Nothing  happened  until  about  nine  o'clock,  when  to 
my  great  satisfaction  the  intense  stillness  was 
suddenly  broken  by  the  noise  of  the  door  of  the 
trap  clattering  down.  "At  last,"  I  thought,  "one 
at  least  of  the  brutes  is  done  for."  But  the  sequel 
was  an  ignominious  one. 

The  bait-sepoys  had  a  lamp  burning  inside  their 
part  of  the  cage,  and  were  each  armed  with  a 
Martini  rifle,  with  plenty  of  ammunition.  They  had 
also  been  given  strict  orders  to  shoot  at  once  if  a 
lion  should  enter  the  trap.  Instead  of  doing  so, 
however,  they  were  so  terrified  when  he  rushed  in 

Q 


82  THE  MAN-EATERS  OF  TSAVO          CHAP. 

and  began  to  lash  himself  madly  against  the  bars  of 
the  cage,  that  they  completely  lost  their  heads  and 
were  actually  too  unnerved  to  fire.  Not  for  some 
minutes — not,  indeed,  until  Mr.  Farquhar,  whose 
post  was  close  by,  shouted  at  them  and  cheered 
them  on — did  they  at  all  recover  themselves.  Then 
when  at  last  they  did  begin  to  fire,  they  fired  with  a 
vengeance  —anywhere,  anyhow.  Whitehead  and  I 
were  at  right  angles  to  the  direction  in  which  they 
should  have  shot,  and  yet  their  bullets  came  whizzing 
all  round  us.  Altogether  they  fired  over  a  score  of 
shots,  and  in  the  end  succeeded  only  in  blowing 
away  one  of  the  bars  of  the  door,  thus  allowing  our 
prize  to  make  good  his  escape.  How  they  failed  to 
kill  him  several  times  over  is,  and  always  will  be,  a 
complete  mystery  to  me,  as  they  could  have  put  the 
muzzles  of  their  rifles  absolutely  touching  his  body. 
There  was,  indeed,  some  blood  scattered  about  the 
trap,  but  it  was  small  consolation  to  know  that  the 
brute,  whose  capture  and  death  seemed  so  certain, 
had  only  been  slightly  wounded. 

Still  we  were  not  unduly  dejected,  and  when 
morning  came,  a  hunt  was  at  once  arranged. 
Accordingly  we  spent  the  greater  part  of  the  day  on 
our  hands  and  knees  following  the  lions  through 
the  dense  thickets  of  thorny  jungle,  but  though  we 
heard  their  growls  from  time  to  time,  we  never 
succeeded  in  actually  coming  up  with  them.  Of  the 


vii     DISTRICT  OFFICER'S  NARROW  ESCAPE      83 

whole  party,  only  Farquhar  managed  to  catch  a 
momentary  glimpse  of  one  as  it  bounded  over  a 
bush.  Two  days  more  were  spent  in  the  same 
manner,  and  with  equal  unsuccess ;  and  then 
Farquhar  and  his  sepoys  were  obliged  to  return  to 
the  coast.  Mr.  Whitehead  also  departed  for  his 
district,  and  once  again  I  was  left  alone  with  the 
man-eaters. 


A    PARTY    OF    \VA   JAMOUSI. 


G    2 


CHAPTER  VIII 

THE    DEATH    OF    THE    FIRST    MAN-EATER 

A  DAY  or  two  after  the  departure  of  my  allies, 
as  I  was  leaving  my  boma  soon  after  dawn  on 
December  9,  I  saw  a  Swahili  running  excitedly 
towards  me,  shouting  out  "  Simba  !  Simba  /  "  ("  Lion  ! 
Lion  ! "),  and  every  now  and  again  looking  behind 
him  as  he  ran.  On  questioning  him  I  found  that 
the  lions  had  tried  to  snatch  a  man  from  the  camp 
by  the  river,  but  being  foiled  in  this  had  seized 
and  killed  one  of  the  donkeys,  and  were  at  that 
moment  busy  devouring  it  not  far  off.  Now  was 
my  chance ! 

I  rushed  for  the  heavy  rifle  which  Farquhar  had 
kindly  left  with  me  for  use  in  case  an  opportunity 
such  as  this  should  arise,  and,  led  by  the  Swahili,  I 
started  most  carefully  to  stalk  the  lions,  who,  I 
devoutly  hoped,  were  confining  their  attention 
strictly  to  their  meal.  I  was  getting  on  splendidly, 
and  could  just  make  out  the  outline  of  one  of  them 
through  the  dense  bush,  when  unfortunately  my 


CH.  vin   DEATH  OF  THE  FIRST  MAN-EATER        85 


guide  snapped  a  rotten  branch.  The  wily  beast 
heard  the  noise,  growled  his  defiance,  and  dis- 
appeared in  a  moment  into  a  patch  of  even  thicker 
jungle  close  by.  In  desperation  at  the  thought  of 
his  escaping  me  once  again,  I  crept  hurriedly  back 
to  the  camp,  summoned  the  available  workmen  and 
told  them  to  bring  all  the  tom-toms,  tin  cans  and 
other  noisy  instruments  of  any  kind  that  could  be 
found.  As  quickly  as  possible  I  posted  them  in 
a  half-circle  round  the  thicket,  and  gave  the  head 
jemadar  instructions  to  start  a  simultaneous  beating 
of  the  tom-toms  and  cans  as  soon  as  he  judged  that 
I  had  had  time  to  get  round  to  the  other  side. 
I  then  crept  round  by  myself  and  soon  found  a 
good  position  and  one  which  the  lion  was  most 
likely  to  retreat  past,  as  it  was  in  the  middle  of  a 
broad  animal  path  leading  straight  from  the  place 
where  he  was  concealed.  I  lay  down  behind 
a  small  ant  hill,  and  waited  expectantly.  Very  soon 
I  heard  a  tremendous  din  being  raised  by  the 
advancing  line  of  coolies,  and  almost  immediately, 
to  my  intense  joy,  out  into  the  open  path  stepped 
a  huge  maneless  lion.  It  was  the  first  occasion 

o 

during  all  these  trying  months  upon  which  I  had 
had  a  fair  chance  at  one  of  these  brutes,  and  my 
satisfaction  at  the  prospect  of  bagging  him  was 
unbounded. 

Slowly  he    advanced    along    the    path,    stopping 
every    few    seconds    to    look    round.       I    was    only 


86  THE  MAN-EATERS  OF  TSAVO          CHAP. 

partially  concealed  from  view,  and  if  his  attention 
had  not  been  so  fully  occupied  by  the  noise  behind 
him,  he  must  have  observed  me.  As  he  was 
oblivious  to  my  presence,  however,  I  let  him 
approach  to  within  about  fifteen  yards  of  me, 
and  then  covered  him  with  my  rifle.  The  moment 
I  moved  to  do  this,  he  caught  sight  of  me,  and 
seemed  much  astonished  at  my  sudden  appearance, 
for  he  stuck  his  forefeet  into  the  ground,  threw 
himself  back  on  his  haunches  and  growled  savagely. 
As  I  covered  his  brain  with  my  rifle,  i  felt  that 
at  last  I  had  him  absolutely  at  my  mercy,  but 
....  never  trust  an  untried  weapon  !  I  pulled 
the  trigger,  and  to  my  horror  heard  the  dull  snap 
that  tells  of  a  misfire. 

Worse  was  to  follow.  I  was  so  taken  aback 
and  disconcerted  by  this  untoward  accident  that 
I  entirely  forgot  to  fire  the  left  barrel,  and 
lowered  the  rifle  from  my  shoulder  with  the 
intention  of  reloading — if  I  should  be  given  time. 
Fortunately  for  me,  the  lion  was  so  distracted 
by  the  terrific  din  and  uproar  of  the  coolies  behind 
him  that  instead  of  springing  on  me,  as  might  have 
been  expected,  he  bounded  aside  into  the  jungle 
again.  By  this  time  I  had  collected  my  wits,  and 
just  as  he  jumped  I  let  him  have  the  left  barrel.  An 
answering  angry  growl  told  me  that  he  had  been  hit ; 
but  nevertheless  he  succeeded  once  more  in  getting 
clear  away,  for  although  I  tracked  him  for  some  little 


vm       DEATH  OF  THE  FIRST  MAN-EATER         87 


distance,  I  eventually  lost  his  trail  in  a  rocky  patch 
of  ground. 

Bitterly  did  I  anathematise  the  hour  in  which  I 
had  relied  on  a  borrowed  weapon,  and  in  my  disap- 
pointment and  vexation  I  abused  owner,  maker,  and 
rifle  with  fine  impartiality.  On  extracting  the  un- 
exploded  cartridge,  I  found  that  the  needle  had  not 
struck  home,  the  cap  being  only  slightly  dented  ;  so 
that  the  whole  fault  did  indeed  lie  with  the  rifle, 
which  I  later  returned  to  Farquhar  with  polite  com- 
pliments. Seriously,  however,  my  continued  ill- 
luck  was  most  exasperating  ;  and  the  result  was  that 
the  Indians  were  more  than  ever  confirmed  in  their 
belief  that  the  lions  were  really  evil  spirits,  proof 
against  mortal  weapons.  Certainly,  they  did  seem 
to  bear  charmed  lives. 

After  this  dismal  failure  there  was,  of  course, 
nothing  to  do  but  to  return  to  camp.  Before  doing 
so,  however,  I  proceeded  to  view  the  dead  donkey, 
which  I  found  to  have  been  only  slightly  devoured 
at  the  quarters.  It  is  a  curious  fact  that  lions  always 
begin  at  the  tail  of  their  prey  and  eat  upwards 
towards  the  head.  As  their  meal  had  thus  been 
interrupted  evidently  at  the  very  beginning,  I  felt 
pretty  sure  that  one  or  other  of  the  brutes  would 
return  to  the  carcase  at  nightfall.  Accordingly,  as 
there  was  no  tree  of  any  kind  close  at  hand,  I  had  a 
staging  erected  some  ten  feet  away  from  the  body. 
This  mac han  was  about  twelve  feet  high  and  was 


88  THE  MAN-EATERS  OF  TSAVO         CHAP. 

composed  of  four  poles  stuck  into  the  ground  and 
inclined  towards  each  other  at  the  top,  where  a 
plank  was  lashed  to  serve  as  a  seat.  Further,  as 
the  nights  were  still  pitch  dark,  I  had  the  donkey's 
carcase  secured  by  strong  wires  to  a  neighbouring 
stump,  so  that  the  lions  might  not  be  able  to  drag 
it  away  before  I  could  get  a  shot  at  them. 

At  sundown,  therefore,  I  took  up  my  position  on 
my  airy  perch,  and  much  to  the  disgust  of  my  gun- 
bearer,  Mahina,  I  decided  to  go  alone.  I  would 
gladly  have  taken  him  with  me,  indeed,  but  he  had 
a  bad  cough,  and  I  was  afraid  lest  he  should  make 
any  involuntary  noise  or  movement  which  might 
spoil  all.  Darkness  fell  almost  immediately,  and 
everything  became  extraordinarily  still.  The  silence 
of  an  African  jungle  on  a  dark  night  needs  to  be 
experienced  to  be  realised  ;  it  is  most  impressive, 
especially  when  one  is  absolutely  alone  and  isolated 
from  one's  fellow  creatures,  as  I  was  then.  The 
solitude  and  stillness,  and  the  purpose  of  my  vigil, 
all  had  their  effect  on  me,  and  from  a  condition  of 
strained  expectancy  I  gradually  fell  into  a  dreamy 
mood  which  harmonised  well  with  my  surroundings. 
Suddenly  I  was  startled  out  of  my  reverie  by  the 
snapping  of  a  twig  :  and,  straining  my  ears  for  a 
further  sound,  I  fancied  I  could  hear  the  rustling  of 
a  large  body  forcing  its  way  through  the  bush. 
"  The  man-eater,"  I  thought  to  myself;  "surely 
to-night  my  luck  will  change  and  I  shall  bag 


vin       DEATH  OF  THE  FIRST  MAN-EATER        89 

one  of  the  brutes."  Profound  silence  again 
succeeded  ;  I  sat  on  my  eyrie  like  a  statue,  every 
nerve  tense  with  excitement.  Very  soon,  how- 
ever, all  doubt  as  to  the  presence  of  the  lion 
was  dispelled.  A  deep  long-drawn  sigh — sure 
sign  of  hunger — came  up  from  the  bushes,  and  the 
rustling  commenced  again  as  he  cautiously  advanced. 
In  a  moment  or  two  a  sudden  stop,  followed  by  an 
angry  growl,  told  me  that  my  presence  had  been 
noticed  ;  and  I  began  to  fear  that  disappointment 
awaited  me  once  more. 

But  no  ;  matters  quickly  took  an  unexpected  turn. 
The  hunter  became  the  hunted  ;  and  instead  of 
either  making  off  or  coming  for  the  bait  prepared 
for  him,  the  lion  began  stealthily  to  stalk  me  !  For 
about  two  hours  he  horrified  me  by  slowly  creeping 
round  and  round  my  crazy  structure,  gradually 
edging  his  way  nearer  and  nearer.  Every  moment 
I  expected  him  to  rush  it  ;  and  the  staging  had  not 
been  constructed  with  an  eye  to  such  a  possibility. 
If  one  of  the  rather  flimsy  poles  should  break,  or  if 
the  lion  could  spring  the  twelve  feet  which  separated 
me  from  the  ground  .  .  .  the  thought  was  scarcely 
a  pleasant  one.  I  began  to  feel  distinctly  "creepy," 
and  heartily  repented  my  folly  in  having  placed  my- 
self in  such  a  dangerous  position.  I  kept  perfectly 
still,  however,  hardly  daring  even  to  blink  my  eyes  : 
but  the  long-continued  strain  was  telling  on  my 
nerves,  and  my  feelings  may  be  better  imagined  than 


9o  THE  MAN-EATERS  OF  TSAVO          CHAP. 

described  when  about  midnight  suddenly  something 
came  flop  and  struck  me  on  the  back  of  the  head. 
For  a  moment  I  was  so  terrified  that  I  nearly  fell  off 
the  plank,  as  I  thought  that  the  lion  had  sprung  on 
me  from  behind.  Regaining  my  senses  in  a  second  or 
two,  I  realised  that  I  had  been  hit  by  nothing  more 
formidable  than  an  owl,  which  had  doubtless  mis- 
taken me  for  the  branch  of  a  tree — not  a  very 
alarming  thing  to  happen  in  ordinary  circumstances, 
I  admit,  but  coming  at  the  time  it  did,  it  almost 
paralysed  me.  The  involuntary  start  which  I  could 
not  help  giving  was  immediately  answered  by  a 
sinister  growl  from  below. 

After  this  I  again  kept  as  still  as  I  could,  though 
absolutely  trembling  with  excitement  ;  and  in  a 
short  while  I  heard  the  lion  begin  to  creep  stealthily 
towards  me.  I  could  barely  make  out  his  form  as 
he  crouched  among  the  whitish  undergrowth  ;  but  I 
saw  enough  for  my  purpose,  and  before  he  could 
come  any  nearer,  I  took  careful  aim  and  pulled  the 
trigger.  The  sound  of  the  shot  was  at  once  followed 
by  a  most  terrific  roar,  and  then  I  could  hear  him 
leaping  about  in  all  directions.  I  was  no  longer  able 
to  see  him,  however,  as  his  first  bound  had  taken 
him  into  the  thick  bush  ;  but  to  make  assurance 
doubly  sure,  I  kept  blazing  away  in  the  direction  in 
which  I  heard  him  plunging  about.  At  length  came 
a  series  of  mighty  groans,  gradually  subsiding  into 
deep  sighs,  and  finally  ceasing  altogether ;  and  I  felt 


vni       DEATH  OF  THE  FIRST  MAN-EATER        91 


convinced    that   one  of  the   "devils"   who  had   so 
long  harried  us  would  trouble  us  no  more. 

As  soon  as  I  ceased  firing,  a  tumult  of  inquiring 
voices  was  borne  across  the  dark  jungle  from  the 
men  in  camp  about  a  quarter  of  a  mile  away.  I 
shouted  back  that  I  was  safe  and  sound,  and  that 
one  of  the  lions  was  dead  :  whereupon  such  a  mighty 
cheer  went  up  from  all  the  camps  as  must  have 
astonished  the  denizens  of  the  jungle  for  miles 
around.  Shortly  I  saw  scores  of  lights  twinkling 
through  the  bushes  :  every  man  in  camp  turned  out, 
and  with  tom-toms  beating  and  horns  blowing  came 
running  to  the  scene.  They  surrounded  my  eyrie, 
and  to  my  amazement  prostrated  themselves  on  the 
ground  before  me,  saluting  me  with  cries  of  "  Maba- 
rak  !  Mabarak!"  which  I  believe  means  "blessed 
one  "  or  "  saviour."  All  the  same,  I  refused  to  allow 
any  search  to  be  made  that  night  for  the  body  of 
the  lion,  in  case  his  companion  might  be  close  by ; 
besides,  it  was  possible  that  he  might  be  still  alive, 
and  capable  of  making  a  last  spring.  Accordingly 
we  all  returned  in  triumph  to  the  camp,  where  great 
rejoicings  were  kept  up  for  the  remainder  of  the 
night,  the  Swahili  and  other  African  natives 
celebrating  the  occasion  by  an  especially  wild  and 
savage  dance. 

For  my  part,  I  anxiously  awaited  the  dawn  ;  and 
even  before  it  was  thoroughly  light  I  was  on  my 
way  to  the  eventful  spot,  as  I  could  not  completely 


92  THE  MAN-EATERS  OF  TSAVO         CHAP. 


persuade  myself  that  even  yet  the  "devil"  might 
not  have  eluded  me  in  some  uncanny  and  mysterious 
way.  Happily  my  fears  proved  groundless,  and  I 
was  relieved  to  find  that  my  luck — after  playing  me 
so  many  exasperating  tricks — had  really  turned  at 
last.  I  had  scarcely  traced  the  blood  for  more  than 


"HIS     LENGTH     FROM     Til'     OF     NOSE     TO     TIP     OF     TAIL     WAS     NINE     FEET 
EIGHT    INCHES." 


a  few  paces  when,  on  rounding  a  bush,  I  was  startled 
to  see  a  huge  lion  right  in  front  of  me,  seemingly 
alive  and  crouching  for  a  spring.  On  looking 
closer,  however,  I  satisfied  myself  that  he  was 
really  and  truly  stone-dead,  whereupon  my  followers 
crowded  round,  laughed  and  danced  and  shouted 
with  joy  like  children,  and  bore  me  in  triumph 
shoulder-high  round  the  dead  body.  These  thanks- 


vin       DEATH  OF  THE  FIRST  MAN-EATER        93 

giving  ceremonies  being  over,  I  examined  the  body 
and  found  that  two  bullets  had  taken  effect — one 
close  behind  the  left  shoulder,  evidently  penetrating 
the  heart,  and  the  other  in  the  off  hind  leg.  The 
prize  was  indeed  one  to  be  proud  of;  his  length 
from  tip  of  nose  to  tip  of  tail  was  nine  feet  eight 
inches,  he  stood  three  feet  nine  inches  high,  and  it 
took  eight  men  to  carry  him  back  to  camp.  The 
only  blemish  was  that  the  skin  was  much  scored  by 
the  boma  thorns  through  which  he  had  so  often 
forced  his  way  in  carrying  off  his  victims. 

The  news  of  the  death  of  one  of  the  notorious 
man-eaters  soon  spread  far  and  wide  over  the 
country  :  telegrams  of  congratulation  came  pouring 
in,  and  scores  of  people  flocked  from  up  and  down 
the  railway  to  see  the  skin  for  themselves. 


HEAD    OF    THE    FIRST    MAN-EATER, 


CHAPTER  IX 

THE    DEATH    OF    THE    SECOND    MAN-EATER 

IT  must  not  be  imagined  that  with  the  death  of 
this  lion  our  troubles  at  Tsavo  were  at  an  end  ;  his 
companion  was  still  at  large,  and  very  soon  began 
to  make  us  unpleasantly  aware  of  the  fact.  Only  a 
few  nights  elapsed  before  he  made  an  attempt  to 
get  at  the  Permanent  Way  Inspector,  climbing  up 
the  steps  of  his  bungalow  and  prowling  round  the 
verandah.  The  Inspector,  hearing  the  noise  and 
thinking  it  was  a  drunken  coolie,  shouted  angrily 
"  Go  away ! "  but,  fortunately  for  him,  did  not 
attempt  to  come  out  or  to  open  the  door.  Thus 
disappointed  in  his  attempt  to  obtain  a  meal  of 
human  flesh,  the  lion  seized  a  couple  of  the  In- 
spector's goats  and  devoured  them  there  and  then. 

On  hearing  of  this  occurrence,  I  determined  to 
sit  up  the  next  night  near  the  Inspector's  bungalow. 
Fortunately  there  was  a  vacant  iron  shanty  close  at 
hand,  with  a  convenient  loophole  in  it  for  firing 


CH.  ix    DEATH  OF  THE  SECOND  MAN-EATER     95 

from  ;  and  outside  this  I  placed  three  full-grown 
goats  as  bait,  tying  them  to  a  half-length  of  rail, 
weighing  about  250  Ibs.  The  night  passed  un- 
eventfully until  just  before  daybreak,  when  at  last 
the  lion  turned  up,  pounced  on  one  of  the  goats 
and  made  off  with  it,  at  the  same  time  dragging 
away  the  others,  rail  and  all.  I  fired  several  shots 
in  his  direction,  but  it  was  pitch  dark  and  quite 
impossible  to  see  anything,  so  I  only  succeeded  in 
hitting  one  of  the  goats.  I  often  longed  for  a  flash- 
light on  such  occasions. 

Next  morning  I  started  off  in  pursuit  and  was 
joined  by  some  others  from  the  camp.  I  found 
that  the  trail  of  the  goats  and  rail  was  easily- 
followed,  and  we  soon  came  up,  about  a  quarter 
of  a  mile  away,  to  where  the  lion  was  still  busy 
at  his  meal.  He  was  concealed  in  some  thick 
bush  and  growled  angrily  on  hearing  our  approach  ; 
finally,  as  we  got  closer,  he  suddenly  made  a 
charge,  rushing  through  the  bushes  at  a  great 
pace.  In  an  instant,  every  man  of  the  party 
scrambled  hastily  up  the  nearest  tree,  with  the 
exception  of  one  of  my  assistants,  Mr.  Winkler, 
who  stood  steadily  by  me  throughout.  The 
brute,  however,  did  not  press  his  charge  home : 
and  on  throwing  stones  into  the  bushes  where 
we  had  last  seen  him,  we  guessed  by  the  silence 
that  he  had  slunk  off.  We  therefore  advanced 


96  THE  MAN-EATERS  OF  TSAVO          CHAP. 


cautiously,  and  on  getting  up  to  the  place 
discovered  that  he  had  indeed  escaped  us, 
leaving  two  of  the  goats  scarcely  touched. 

Thinking  that  in  all  probability  the  lion  would 
return  as   usual   to  finish  his   meal,    I    had   a  very 
strong  scaffolding  put  up  a  few  feet  away  from  the 
dead  goats,  and   took   up  my  position   on  it  before 
dark.     On  this  occasion   I   brought  my  gun-bearer, 
Mahina,  to  take  a  turn  at  watching,  as    I   was  by 
this  time  worn  out  for  want  of  sleep,  having  spent 
so  many  nights  on  the  look-out.      I  was  just  dozing 
off    comfortably    when    suddenly    I     felt    my   arm 
seized,  and    on    looking  up   saw    Mahina   pointing 
in  the  direction  of  the  goats.      "S/ier/"  ("Lion!") 
was    all     he    whispered.      I     grasped    my    double 
smooth-bore,  which  I  had    charged  with  slug,  and 
waited    patiently.        In     a     few    moments     I     was 
rewarded,     for    as     I     watched    the    spot    where    I 
expected  the  lion  to  appear,    there  was   a  rustling 
among  the  bushes  and   I  saw  him  stealthily  emerge 
into    the    open    and    pass    almost    directly    beneath 
us.      I   fired   both   barrels  practically   together   into 
his    shoulder,    and    to    my  joy    could    see    him    go 
down    under    the    force     of    the     blow.       Quickly 
I    reached    for    the    magazine    rifle,    but    before    I 
could  use  it,  he  was  out  of  sight  among  the  bushes, 
and    I    had     to     fire    after    him    quite    at    random. 
Nevertheless    I    was    confident   of  getting   him    in 


ix       DEATH  OF  THE  SECOND  MAN-EATER      97 

the  morning,  and  accordingly  set  out  as  soon  as 
it  was  light.  For  over  a  mile  there  was  no 
difficulty  in  following  the  blood-trail,  and  as  he 
had  rested  several  times  I  felt  sure  that  he  had 
been  badly  wounded.  In  the  end,  however,  my 
hunt  proved  fruitless,  for  after  a  time  the  traces 
of  blood  ceased  and  the  surface  of  the  ground 
became  rocky,  so  that  I  was  no  longer  able  to 
follow  the  spoor. 

About  this  time  Sir  Guilford  Molesworth, 
K.C.I.E.,  late  Consulting  Engineer  to  the  Govern- 
ment of  India  for  State  Railways,  passed  through 
Tsavo  on  a  tour  of  inspection  on  behalf  of  the  Foreign 
Office.  After  examining  the  bridge  and  other 
works  and  expressing  his  satisfaction,  he  took  a 
number  of  photographs,  one  or  two  of  which  he 
has  kindly  allowed  me  to  reproduce  in  this  book. 
He  thoroughly  sympathised  with  us  in  all  the  trials 
we  had  endured  from  the  man-eaters,  and  was 
delighted  that  one  at  least  was  dead.  When  he 
asked  me  if  I  expected  to  get  the  second  lion  soon, 
I  well  remember  his  half-doubting  smile  as  I  rather 
too  confidently  asserted  that  I  hoped  to  bag  him 
also  in  the  course  of  a  few  days. 

As  it  happened,  there  was  no  sign  of  our  enemy 
for  about  ten  days  after  this,  and  we  began  to  hope 
that  he  had  died  of  his  wounds  in  the  bush.  All 
the  same  we  still  took  every  precaution  at  night, 

H 


98  THE  MAN-EATERS  OF  TSAVO          CHAP. 

and  it  was  fortunate  that  we  did  so,  as  otherwise  at 
least  one  more  victim  would  have  been  added  to  the 
list.  For  on  the  night  of  December  27,  I  was  sud- 
denly aroused  by  terrified  shouts  from  my  trolley 
men,  who  slept  in  a  tree  close  outside  my  boma,  to 
the  effect  that  a  lion  was  trying  to  get  at  them.  It 
would  have  been  madness  to  have  gone  out,  as 
the  moon  was  hidden  by  dense  clouds  and  it  was 
absolutely  impossible  to  see  anything  more  than  a 
yard  in  front  of  one ;  so  all  I  could  do  was  to  fire  off  a 
few  rounds  just  to  frighten  the  brute  away.  This 
apparently  had  the  desired  effect,  for  the  men  were  not 
further  molested  that  night ;  but  the  man-eater  had 
evidently  prowled  about  for  some  time,  for  we  found 
in  the  morning  that  he  had  gone  right  into  every 
one  of  their  tents,  and  round  the  tree  was  a  regular 
rin<r  of  his  footmarks. 

c? 

The  following  evening  I  took  up  my  position  in  this 
same  tree,  in  the  hope  that  he  would  make  another 
attempt.  The  night  began  badly,  as  while  climbing 
up  to  my  perch  I  very  nearly  put  my  hand  on  a 
venomous  snake  which  was  lying  coiled  round  one 
of  the  branches.  As  may  be  imagined,  I  came  down 
again  very  quickly,  but  one  of  my  men  managed  to 
despatch  it  with  a  long  pole.  Fortunately  the  night 
was  clear  and  cloudless,  and  the  moon  made  every- 
thing almost  as  bright  as  day.  I  kept  watch  until  about 
2  a.m.,  when  I  roused  Mahina  to  take  his  turn.  For 


ix       DEATH  OF  THE  SECOND  MAN-EATER      99 


about  an  hour  I  slept  peacefully  with  my  back  to  the 
tree,  and  then  woke  suddenly  with  an  uncanny  feel- 
ing that  something  was  wrong.  Mahina,  however, 
was  on  the  alert,  and  had  seen  nothing  ;  and  al- 
though I  looked  carefully  round  us  on  all  sides,  I  too 
could  discover  nothing  unusual.  Only  half  satisfied, 
I  was  about  to  lie  back  again,  when  I  fancied  I  saw 


'•  I  UK    FOLLOWING  EVENING  I    TOOK  UP  MY  POSITION  IN  THIS  SAME  TREE." 

something  move  a  little  way  off  among  the  low 
bushes.  On  gazing  intently  at  the  spot  for  a  few 
seconds,  I  found  I  was  not  mistaken.  It  was  the 
man-eater,  cautiously  stalking  us. 

The  ground  was  fairly  open  round  our  tree,  with 
only  a  small  bush  every  here  and  there  ;  and  from 
our  position  it  was  a  most  fascinating  sight  to  watch 
this  great  brute  stealing  stealthily  round  us,  taking 

H  2 


TOO  THE  MAN-EATERS  OF  TSAVO         CHAP. 


advantage  of  every  bit  of  cover  as  he  came.  His 
skill  showed  that  he  was  an  old  hand  at  the  terrible 
game  of  man-hunting  :  so  I  determined  to  run  no 
undue  risk  of  losing  him  this  time.  I  accordingly 
waited  until  he  got  quite  close — about  twenty  yards 
away — and  then  fired  my  '303  at  his  chest.  I  heard 
the  bullet  strike  him,  but  unfortunately  it  had  no 
knock-down  effect,  for  with  a  fierce  growl  he  turned 
and  made  off  with  great  long  bounds.  Before  he 
disappeared  from  sight,  however,  I- managed  to  have 
three  more  shots  at  him  from  the  magazine  rifle,  and 
another  growl  told  me  that  the  last  of  these  had 
also  taken  effect. 

We  awaited  daylight  with  impatience,  and  at  the 
first  glimmer  of  dawn  we  set  out  to  hunt  him  clown.  I 
took  a  native  tracker  with  me,  so  that  I  was  free  to 
keep  a  good  look-out,  while  Mahina  followed  imme- 
diately behind  with  a  Martini  carbine.  Splashes  of 
blood  being  plentiful,  we  were  able  to  get  along 
quickly  ;  and  we  had  not  proceeded  more  than  a 
quarter  of  a  mile  through  the  jungle  when  suddenly 
a  fierce  warning  growl  was  heard  right  in  front  of 
us.  Looking  cautiously  through  the  bushes,  I  could 
see  the  man-eater  glaring  out  in  our  direction,  and 
showing  his  tusks  in  an  angry  snarl.  I  at  once  took 
careful  aim  and  fired.  Instantly  he  sprang  out  and 
made  a  most  determined  charge  clown  on  us.  I 
fired  again  and  knocked  him  over  ;  but  in  a  second 


ix      DEATH  OF  THE  SECOND  MAN-EATER     101 

he  was  up  once  more  and  coming  for  me  as  fast  as 
lie  could  in  his  crippled  condition.  A  third  shot 
had  no  apparent  effect,  so  I  put  out  my  hand  for  the 
Martini,  hoping  to  stop  him  with  it.  To  my  dismay, 
however,  it  was  not  there.  The  terror  of  the  sud- 
den charge  had  proved  too  much  for  Mahina,  and 
both  he  and  the  carbine  were  by  this  time  well  on  their 
way  up  a  tree.  In  the  circumstances  there  was 
nothing  to  do  but  follow  suit,  which  I  did  without 
loss  of  time  :  and  but  for  the  fact  that  one  of  my  shots 
had  broken  a  hind  leg,  the  brute  would  most  certainly 
have  had  me.  Even  as  it  was,  I  had  barely  time  to 
swing  myself  up  out  of  his  reach  before  he  arrived  at 
the  foot  of  the  tree. 

When  the  lion  found  he  was  too  late,  he  started  to 
limp  back  to  the  thicket  ;  but  by  this  time  I  had 
seized  the  carbine  from  Mahina,  and  the  first  shot  I 
fired  from  it  seemed  to  give  him  his  quietus,  for  he 
fell  over  and  lay  motionless.  Rather  foolishly,  I  at 
once  scrambled  down  from  the  tree  and  walked  up  to- 
wards him.  To  my  surprise  and  no  little  alarm 
he  jumped  up  and  attempted  another  charge.  This 
time,  however,  a  Martini  bullet  in  the  chest  and 
another  in  the  head  finished  him  for  good  and  all  ; 
he  dropped  in  his  tracks  not  five  yards  away  from 
me,  and  died  gamely,  biting  savagely  at  a  branch 
which  had  fallen  to  the  ground. 

By  this  time  all  the   workmen   in  camp,  attracted 


THE  MAN-EATERS  OF  TSAVO         CHAP. 


by  the  sound  of  the  firing,  had  arrived  on  the  scene, 
and  so  great  was  their  resentment  against  the  brute 
who  had  killed  such  numbers  of  their  comrades  that 
it  was  only  with  the  greatest  difficulty  that  I  could 
restrain  them  from  tearing  the  dead  body  to  pieces. 
Eventually,  amid  the  wild  rejoicings  of  the  natives 


"HE     MEASURED    NINE     FEET     SIX      INCHES     FROM      TIP    OF      NOSE     TO     TIP 
OF   TAIL,  AND   STOOD   THREE   FEET    ELEVEN    AND   A   HALF    INCHES   HIGH." 


and  coolies,  I  had  the  lion  carried  to  my  boma,  which 
was  close  at  hand.  On  examination  we  found  no 
less  than  six  bullet  holes  in  the  body,  and  embedded 
only  a  little  way  in  the  flesh  of  the  back  was  the  slug 
which  I  had  fired  into  him  from  the  scaffolding  about 
ten  days  previously.  He  measured  nine  feet  six- 
inches  from  tip  of  nose  to  tip  of  tail,  and  stood 


ix      DEATH  OF  THE  SECOND  MAN-EATER     103 


three  feet  eleven  and  a  half  inches  high  ;  but, 
as  in  the  case  of  his  companion,  the  skin  was 
disfigured  by  being  deeply  scored  all  over  by  the 
boma  thorns. 

The  news  of  the  death  of  the  second  "  devil  "  soon 
spread  far  and  wide  over  the  country,  and  natives 
actually  travelled  from  up  and  down  the  line  to  have  a 
look  at  my  trophies  and  at  the  "  devil-killer  ",  as  they 
called  me.  Best  of  all,  the  coolies  who  had  absconded 
came  flocking  back  to  Tsavo,  and  much  to  my  relief 
work  was  resumed  and  we  were  never  again  troubled 
by  man-eaters.  It  was  amusing,  indeed,  to  notice 
the  change  which  took  place  in  the  attitude  of  the 
workmen  towards  me  after  I  had  killed  the  two 
lions.  Instead  of  wishing  to  murder  me,  as  they 
once  did,  they  could  not  now  do  enough  for  me,  and 
as  a  token  of  their  gratitude  they  presented  me  with 
a  beautiful  silver  bowl,  as  well  as  with  a  long  poem 
\\  ritten  in  Hindustani  describing  all  our  trials  and  my 
ultimate  victory.  As  the  poem  relates  our  troubles 
in  somewhat  quaint  and  biblical  language,  I  have 
given  a  translation  of  it  in  the  appendix.  The  bowl 
I  shall  always  consider  my  most  highly  prized  and 
hardest  won  trophy.  The  inscription  on  it  reads  as 
follows  :— 

SIR, — We,  your  Overseer,  Timekeepers,  Mistaris 
and  Workmen,  present  you  with  this  bowl  as  a  token 
of  our  gratitude  to  you  for  your  bravery  in  killing 


104  THE  MAN-EATERS  OF  TSAVO          CHAP. 

two  man-eating  lions  at  great  risk  to  your  own  life, 
thereby  saving  us  from  the  fate  of  being  devoured 
by  these  terrible  monsters  who  nightly  broke  into 
our  tents  and  took  our  fellow-workers  from  our  side. 
In  presenting  you  with  this  bowl,  we  all  add  our 
prayers  for  your  long  life,  happiness  and  prosperity. 
We  shall  ever  remain,  Sir,  Your  grateful  servants, 

BaboO  PURSHOTAM   HURJEE  PURMAR, 

Overseer  and  Clerk  of  Works, 
on  behalf  of  your  Workmen. 

Dated  at  Tsavo,  January  30,  1899. 

Before  I  leave  the  subject  of  "  the  man-eaters  of 
Tsavo,"  it  may  be  of  interest  to  mention  that  these  two 
lions  possess  the  distinction,  probably  unique  among 
wild  animals,  of  having  been  specifically  referred  to 
in  the  House  of  Lords  by  the  Prime  Minister  of  the 
day.  Speaking  of  the  difficulties  which  had  been 
encountered  in  the  construction  of  the  Uganda 
Railway,  the  late  Lord  Salisbury  said  :— 

"  The  whole  of  the  works  were  put  a  stop  to  for 
three  weeks  because  a  party  of  man-eating  lions 
appeared  in  the  locality  and  conceived  a  most 
unfortunate  taste  for  our  porters.  At  last  the 
labourers  entirely  declined  to  go  on  unless  they  were 
guarded  by  an  iron  entrenchment.  Of  course  it  is 
difficult  to  work  a  railway  under  these  conditions, 
and  until  we  found  an  enthusiastic  sportsman  to  get 
rid  of  these  lions,  our  enterprise  was  seriously 
hindered." 


ix      DEATH  OF  THE  SECOND  MAN-EATER     105 


Also,  The  Spectator  of  March  3,  1900,  had  an 
article  entitled  "The  Lions  that  Stopped  the 
Railway,"  from  which  the  following  extracts  are 
taken  :— 

"  The  parallel  to  the  story  of  the  lions  which 
stopped  the  rebuilding  of  Samaria  must  occur  to 
everyone,  and  if  the  Samaritans  had  quarter  as 
good  cause  for  their  fears  as  had  the  railway  coolies, 
their  wish  to  propitiate  the  local  deities  is  easily 
understood.  If  the  whole  body  of  lion  anecdote, 
from  the  days  of  the  Assyrian  Kings  till  the  last 
year  of  the  nineteenth  century,  were  collated  and 
brought  together,  it  would  not  equal  in  tragedy  or 
atrocity,  in  savageness  or  in  sheer  insolent  contempt 
for  man,  armed  or  unarmed,  white  or  black,  the 
story  of  these  two  beasts.  .  .  . 

"  To  what  a  distance  the  whole  story  carries  us 
back,  and  how  impossible  it  becomes  to  account  for 
the  survival  of  primitive  man  against  this  kind  of 
foe !  For  fire — which  has  hitherto  been  regarded 
as  his  main  safeguard  against  the  carnivora — these 
cared  nothing.  It  is  curious  that  the  Tsavo  lions 
were  not  killed  by  poison,  for  strychnine  is  easily 
used,  and  with  effect.1  Poison  may  have  been  used 
early  in  the  history  of  man,  for  its  powers  are 
employed  with  strange  skill  by  the  men  in  the 
tropical  forest,  both  in  American  and  West  Central 

1  I  may  mention  that  poison  was  tried,  but  without  effect.  The 
poisoned  carcases  of  transport  animals  which  had  died  from  the  bite 
of  the  tsetse  fly  were  placed  in  likely  spots,  but  the  wily  man-eaters 
would  not  touch  them,  and  much  preferred  live  men  to  dead  donkeys. 


io6  THE  MAN-EATERS  OF  TSAVO         CH.  ix 


Africa.  But  there  is  no  evidence  that  the  old 
inhabitants  of  Europe,  or  of  Assyria  or  Asia  Minor, 
ever  killed  lions  or  wolves  by  this  means.  They 
looked  to  the  King  or  chief,  or  some  champion,  to 
kill  these  monsters  for  them.  It  was  not  the  sport 
but  the  duty  of  Kings,  and  was  in  itself  a  title  to  be 
a  ruler  of  men.  Theseus,  who  cleared  the  roads  of 
beasts  and  robbers  ;  Hercules,  the  lion  killer  ; 
St.  George,  the  dragon-slayer,  and  all  the  rest  of 
their  class  owed  to  this  their  everlasting  fame. 
From  the  story  of  the  Tsavo  River  we  can  appre- 
ciate their. services  to  man  even  at  this  distance  of 
time.  When  the  jungle  twinkled  with  hundreds  of 
lamps,  as  the  shout  went  on  from  camp  to  camp 
that  the  first  lion  was  dead,  as  the  hurrying  crowds 
fell  prostrate  in  the  midnight  forest,  laying  their 
heads  on  his  feet,  and  the  Africans  danced  savage 
and  ceremonial  dances  of  thanksgiving,  Mr.  Patter- 
son must  have  realised  in  no  common  way  what  it 
was  to  have  been  a  hero  and  deliverer  in  the  days 
when  man  was  not  yet  undisputed  lord  of  the 
creation,  and  might  pass  at  any  moment  under  the 
savage  dominion  of  the  beasts." 

Well  had  the  two  man-eaters  earned  all  this 
fame;  they  had  devoured  between  them  no  less  than 
twenty-eight  Indian  coolies,  in  addition  to  scores  of 
unfortunate  African  natives  of  whom  no  official 
record  was  kept. 


"THE   BRIDCE   OVER   THE   TSAVO   RAPIDLY    NEARED   COMl'I.ETION." 


CHAPTER   X 

THE    COMPLETION    OF    THE    TSAVO    IJKIlMIE 

\ViiF.x  all  the  excitement  had  died  down  and 
there  was  no  longer  any  dread  of  the  man-eaters, 
work  went  on  briskly,  and  the  bridge  over  the 
Tsavo  rapidly  neared  completion.  As  the  piers  and 
abutments  progressed  in  height,  the  question  of 
how  to  lift  the  large  stones  into  their  positions  had 
to  be  solved.  We  possessed  no  cranes  for  this 
purpose,  so  I  set  to  work  and  improvised  a  shears 
made  of  a  couple  of  thirty-foot  rails.  These  were 
bolted  together  at  the  top,  while  the  other  ends 
were  fixed  at  a  distance  of  about  ten  feet  apart  in  a 


io8 


THE  MAN-EATERS  OF  TSAVO 


CHAP. 


large  block  of  wood.  This  contrivance  acted 
capitally,  and  by  manipulation  of  ropes  and  pulleys 
the  heavy  stones  were  swung  into  position  quickly 
and  without  difficulty,  so  that  in  a  very  short  time 
the  masonry  of  the  bridge  was  completed. 

The    next    business   wras    to    span    the   sixty-foot 


"THE  HEAVY  STONKS  WERE  SWUNG  INTO  POSITION. 

distance  between  the  piers  with  iron  girders.  As  I 
had  neither  winches  nor  sufficient  blocks  and  tackle 
to  haul  these  over  into  position,  I  was  driven  to 
erect  temporary  piers  in  the  middle  of  each  span, 
built  up  crib-shape  of  wooden  sleepers.  Great 
wooden  beams  were  stretched  across  from  the  stone 
piers  to  these  cribs,  and  laid  with  rails  ;  and  the 


x      COMPLETION  OF  THE  TSAVO  BRIDGE     109 


'THE    GIRDER    WAS    RUN    OVER    ITS    EXAC TJZPLACE," 


AND    FINALLY    LOWERED    GENTLY    INTO    POSITION." 


no 


THE  MAN-EATERS  OF  TSAVO 


CHAP. 


girder  was  run  over  its  exact  place,  while  still  on 
the  trucks  in  which  it  had  been  brought  up  from 
the  coast.  It  was  next  "jacked"  up  from  the 
trucks,  which  were  hauled  away  empty,  the 
temporary  bridge  was  dismantled,  and  the  girder 
finally  lowered  gently  into  position.  When  the  last 


"VERY  SOON   i   HAD   THE  SATISFACTION   OK    SERINS   THE    FIRST   TRAIN- 
CROSS  THE   FINISHED   WORK." 

girder  was  thus  successfully  placed,  no  time  was  lost 
in  linking  up  the  permanent  way,  and  very  soon  I 
had  the  satisfaction  of  seeing  the  first  train  cross  the 
finished  work. 

Curiously  enough,  only  a  day  or  so  after  the 
bridge  had  been  completed  and  the  intermediate 
cribs  cleared  away,  a  tremendous  rain-storm  broke 


x      COMPLETION  OF  THE  TSAVO  BRIDGE     in 


over  the  country.  The  river  started  to  rise  rapidly, 
soon  flooding  its  banks  and  becoming  a  raging 
murky  torrent,  tearing  up  trees  by  the  roots  and 
whirling  them  along  like  straws.  Steadily  higher 
and  higher  rose  the  flood,  and  standing  on  my 
bridge,  I  watched  expectantly  for  the  two  temporary 


TIffi   COMPLETED    TSAVO   BRIDGE. 


trolley  bridges — which,  it  will  be  remembered,  we 
had  built  across  the  stream  in  order  to  bring  stone 
and  sand  to  the  main  work — to  give  way  before  the 
ever-rising  volume  of  water.  Nor  had  I  long  to 
wrait ;  for  I  soon  caught  sight  of  a  solid  mass  of 
palm  stems  and  railway  sleepers  sweeping  with 
almost  irresistible  force  round  the  bend  of  the  river 


112 


THE  MAN-EATERS  OF  TSAVO          CHAP. 


some  little  distance  above  the  bridge.  This  I  knew 
was  the  debris  of  the  trolley  crossing  furthest  up 
the  river.  On  it  came,  and  with  it  an  additional 
bank  of  stormy-looking  water.  I  held  my  breath 
for  the  space  of  a  moment  as  it  actually  leaped  at 
the  second  frail  structure  ;  there  was  a  dull  thud  and 


ONE    OF    THE    TROLLEY    LINES    AFTER    THE    FLOOD. 


a  rerrding  and  riving  of  timbers,  and  then  the  flood 
rolled  on  towards  me,  leaving  not  a  vestige  of  the 
two  bridges  behind  it.  The  impact,  indeed,  was  so 
great  that  the  rails  were  twisted  round  the  broken 

o 

tree-trunks  as  if  they  had  been  so  much  ordinary 
wire.  The  double  tier  of  wreckage  now  swept 
forward,  and  hurled  itself  with  a  sullen  plunge 


x      COMPLETION  OF  THE  TSAVO  BRIDGE     113 


against  the  cutwaters  of  my  stone  piers.  The  shock 
was  great,  but  to  my  immense  satisfaction  the 
bridge  took  it  without  a  tremor,  and  I  saw  the 
remnant  of  the  temporary  crossings  swirl  through 
the  great  spans  and  quickly  disappear  on  its  journey 
to  the  ocean.  I  confess  that  I  witnessed  the  whole 
occurrence  with  a  thrill  of  pride. 

We  were  never  long  without  excitement  of  some 
kind  or  another  at  Tsavo.  When  the  camp  was 
not  being  attacked  by  man-eating  lions,  it  was 
visited  by  leopards,  hyaenas,  wild  dogs,  wild  cats, 
and  other  inhabitants  of  the  jungle  around  us. 
These  animals  did  a  great  deal  of  damage  to  the 
herds  of  sheep  and  goats  which  were  kept  to  supply 
the  commissariat,  and  there  was  always  great  rejoic- 
ing when  a  capture  was  made  in  one  of  the  many 
traps  that  were  laid  for  them.  Leopards  especially 
are  most  destructive,  often  killing  simply  for  pleasure 
and  not  for  food  :  and  I  have  always  harboured 
animosity  towards  them  since  the  night  when  one 
wantonly  destroyed  a  whole  herd  of  mine.  I  hap: 
pened  at  the  time  to  have  a  flock  of  about  thirty 
sheep  and  goats  which  I  kept  for  food  and  for  milk, 
and  which  were  secured  at  sundown  in  a  grass  hut 
at  one  corner  of  my  boma.  One  particularly  dark 
night  we  were  startled  by  a  tremendous  commotion 
in  this  shed,  but  as  this  was  before  the  man-eaters 
were  killed,  no  one  dared  stir  out  to  investigate  the 

I 


u4  THE  MAN-EATERS  OF  TSAVO          CHAP. 

cause  of  the  disturbance.  I  naturally  thought  that 
the  intruder  was  one  of  the  "demons,"  but  all  I 
could  do  was  to  fire  several  shots  in  the  direction  of 
the  hut,  hoping  to  frighten  him  away.  In  spite  of 
these,  however,  it  was  some  time  before  the  noise 
died  down  and  everything  became  still  again.  As 
soon  as  it  was  dawn  I  went  to  the  shed  to  see  what 
had  happened,  and  there,  to  my  intense  anger,  I 
found  every  one  of  my  sheep  and  goats  lying 
stretched  dead  on  the  ground  with  its  throat  bitten 
through.  A  hole  had  been  made  through  the  frail 
wall  of  the  shed,  and  I  saw  from  this  and  from  the 
tracks  all  found  that  the  author  of  the  wholesale 
slaughter  had  been  a  leopard.  He  had  not  eaten 
one  of  the  flock,  but  had  killed  them  all  out  of  pure 
love  of  destruction. 

I  hoped  that  he  would  return  the  next  night  to 
make  a  mea*  ;  and  should  he  do  so,  I  determined  to 
have  my  revenge.  I  accordingly  left  the  carcases 
exactly  as  they  lay,  and  having  a  very  powerful 
steel  trap — like  an  enormous  rat-trap,  and  quite 
strong  enough  to  hold  a  leopard  if  he  should  put 
his  foot  in  it — I  placed  this  in  the  opening  into  the 
shed  and  secured  it  by  a  stout  chain  to  a  long  stake 
driven  into  the  ground  outside.  Darkness  found 
everyone  in  my  botna  on  the  alert  and  listening 
anxiously  to  hear  the  noise  the  leopard  would  make 
the  moment  he  was  caught  in  the  trap.  Nor  were 


x      COMPLETION  OF  THE  TSAVO  BRIDGE     115 

we  disappointed,  for  about  midnight  we  heard  the 
click  of  the  powerful  spring,  followed  immediately 
by  frantic  roaring  and  plunging.  I  had  been  sitting 
all  evening  with  my  rifle  by  my  side  and  a  lantern 
lighted,  so  I  immediately  rushed  out,  followed  by  the 
chankidar  (watchman)  carrying  the  lamp.  As  we 
approached  the  shed,  the  leopard  made  a  frantic 
spring  in  our  direction  as  far  as  the  chain  would 
allow  him,  and  this  so  frightened  the  chaukidar  that 
he  fled  in  terror,  leaving  me  in  utter  darkness. 
The  night  was  as  black  as  had  been  the  previous  one, 
and  I  could  see  absolutely  nothing  ;  but  I  knew  the 
general  direction  in  which  to  fire  and  accordingly 
emptied  my  magazine  at  the  beast.  As  far  as  I 
could  make  out,  he  kept  dodging  in  and  out  through 
the  broken  wall  of  the  goat-house  ;  but  in  a  short 
time  my  shots  evidently  told,  as  his  struggles  ceased 
and  all  was  still.  I  called  out  that  he  was  dead, 
and  at  once  everyone  in  the  boma  turned  out, 
bringing  all  the  lanterns  in  the  place.  With  the 
others  came  my  Indian  overseer,  who  shouted  that 
he  too  wanted  revenge,  as  some  of  the  goats  had 
belonged  to  him.  Whereupon  he  levelled  his 
revolver  at  the  dead  leopard,  and  shutting  his  eyes 
tightly,  fired  four  shots  in  rapid  succession.  Natur- 
ally not  one  of  these  touched  the  beast,  but  they 
caused  considerable  consternation  amongst  the  on- 
lookers, who  scattered  rapidly  to  right  and  left 

I   2 


n6  THE  MAN-EATERS  OF  TSAVO  CH.  x 

Next  morning  a  party  of  starving  Wa  Kamba 
happened  to  be  passing  just  as  I  was  about  to  skin 
the  leopard,  and  asked  by  means  of  signs  to  be 
allowed  to  do  the  job  for  me  and  then  to  take  the 
meat.  I  of  course  assented  to  this  proposal,  and  in 
a  very  few  minutes  the  skin  had  been  neatly  taken 
off,  and  the  famishing  natives  began  a  ravenous 
meal  on  the  raw  flesh. 

Wild  dogs  are  also  very  destructive,  and  often 
caused  great  losses  among  our  sheep  and  goats. 
Many  a  night  have  I  listened  to  these  animals 
hunting  and  harrying  some  poor  creature  of  the 
wilds  round  my  camp  ;  they  never  relinquish  a 
chase,  and  will  attack  anything,  man  or  beast,  when 
really  driven  by  hunger.  I  was  at  Tsavo  Station 
one  day — unfortunately  without  my  rifle — when  one 
of  these  dogs  came  up  and  stood  within  about 
thirty  yards  of  me.  He  was  a  fine-looking  beast, 
bigger  than  a  collie,  with  jet-black  hair  and  a 
white-tipped  bushy  tail.  I  was  very  sorry  that  I 
had  not  brought  my  rifle,  as  I  badly  wanted  a 
specimen  and  never  had  another  chance  of  obtain- 


CHAPTER  XI 

THE    SWAHILI    AND    OTHER    NATIVE    TRIBES 

I  HAVE  always  been  very  keenly  interested  in  the 
different  native  races  of  Africa,  and  consequently 
availed  myself  of  every  opportunity  of  studying  their 
manners  and  customs.  I  had  little  scope  for  this  at 
Tsavo,  however,  as  the  district  around  us  was  practic- 
ally uninhabited.  Still  there  was  of  course  a  good 
number  of  Swahili  among  my  workmen,  together 
with  a  few  Wa  Kamba,  Wa  N'yam  Wezi,  and  others, 
so  I  soon  became  more  or  less  acquainted  with 
the  habits  of  these  tribes.  The  Swahili  live 
principally  along  the  coast  of  British  East  Africa 
and  at  Zanzibar.  They  are  a  mixed  race,  being 
the  descendants  of  Arab  fathers  and  negro  mothers. 
Their  name  is  derived  from  the  Arabic  word  sudhil, 
coast ;  but  it  has  also  been  said,  by  some  who  have 
found  them  scarcely  so  guileless  as  might  have  been 
expected,  to  be  really  a  corruption  of  the  words 
sawa  kill,  that  is,  "  those  who  cheat  all  alike."  How- 


u8 


THE  MAN-EATERS  OF  TSAVO          CHAP. 


ever  that  may  be,  the  men  are  as  a  rule  of  splendid 
physique  and  well  qualified  for  the  calling  that  the 
majority  of  them  follow,  that  of  caravan  porters.  They 
are  a  careless,  light-hearted,  improvident  people,  and 
are  very  fond  of  all  the  good  things  of  this  world, 
enjoying  them  thoroughly  whenever  they  get  the 


- 


SWAHILI    CARAVAN    PORTERS. 


chance.  Their  life  is  spent  in  journeying  to  and  from 
the  interior,  carrying  heavy  loads  of  provisions  and 
trade-goods  on  the  one  journey,  and  returning  with 
similar  loads  of  ivory  or  other  products  of  the 
country.  They  are  away  for  many  months  at  a 
time  on  these  expeditions,  and  consequently — as 
they  cannot  spend  money  on  the  march — they 


xi    SWAHILI  AND  OTHER  NATIVE  TRIBES     119 

have  a  goodly  number  of  rupees  to  draw  on 
their  return  to  Mombasa.  These  generally  dis- 
appear with  wonderful  rapidity,  and  when  no  more 
fun  can  be  bought,  they  join  another  caravan 
and  begin  a  new  safari  to  the  Great  Lakes,  or 
even  beyond.  Many  a  time  have  I  watched  them 


'•THE  OLD   CARAVAN    ROAD   WHICH   CROSSED   THE   TSAVO   AT   A   FORD/' 

trudging  along  the  old  caravan  road  which  crossed 
the  Tsavo  at  a  ford  about  half  a  mile  from  the 
railway  station  :  here  a  halt  was  always  called,  so 
that  thev  migfht  wash  and  bathe  in  the  cool  waters 

s  c> 

of  the  river. 

Nothing  ever  seems   to  damp  the  spirits  of  the 
Swahili  porter.     Be  his  life  ever  so  hard,  his  load 


120  THE  MAN-EATERS  OF  TSAVO          CHAP. 


ever  so  heavy,  the  moment  it  is  off  his  back  and  he 
has  disposed  of  \\\s  posko  (food),  he  straightway  for- 
gets all  his  troubles,  and  begins  to  laugh  and  sing 


"SUCH    WAS   MY   COOK,    MABRUKI." 


and  joke  with  his  fellows  as  if  he  were  the  happiest 
and  luckiest  mortal  alive.  Such  was  my  cook, 
Mabruki,  and  his  merry  laugh  was  quite  infectious. 
I  remember  that  one  day  he  was  opening  a  tin  of 


xi     SWAHILI  AND  OTHER  NATIVE  TRIBES     121 


THE   WOMEN    .    .    .    WEAR   A   LONG,    BRIGHTLY-COLOURED  CLOTH. 


122  THE  MAN-EATERS  OF  TSAVO         CHAP. 

biscuits  for  me,  and  not  being  able  to  pull  off  the 
under-licl  with  his  fingers,  he  seized  the  flap  in  his 
magnificent  teeth  and  tugged  at  it.  I  shouted  to 
him  to  stop,  thinking  that  he  might  break  a  tooth  ; 
but  he  misunderstood  my  solicitude  and  gravely 
assured  me  that  he  would  not  spoil  the  tin  ! 

The  Swahili  men  wear  a  long  white  cotton 
garment,  like  a  night-shirt,  called  a  kanzu;  the 
women — who  are  too  liberally  endowed  to  be 
entirely  graceful — go  about  with  bare  arms  and 
shoulders,  and  wear  a  long  brightly-coloured  cloth 
which  they  wind  tightly  round  their  bosoms  and 
then  allow  to  fall  to  the  feet.  All  are  followers  of 
the  Prophet,  and  their  social  customs  are  con- 
sequently much  the  same  as  those  of  any  other 
Mohammedan  race,  though  with  a  good  admixture 
of  savagedom.  They  have  a  happy  knack  of 
giving  a  nickname  to  every  European  with  whom 
they  have  to  do,  such  nickname  generally  making 
reference  to  something  peculiar  or  striking  in  his 
habits,  temper,  or  appearance.  On  the  whole,  they 
are  a  kindly,  generous  folk,  whom  one  cannot  help 
liking. 

Of  the  many  tribes  which  are  to  be  seen  about 
the  railway  on  the  way  up  from  the  coast,  perhaps 
the  most  extraordinary-looking  are  the  Wa  Nyika, 
the  people  who  inhabit  the  thorny  nyika  (wilder- 
ness) which  borders  on  the  Taru  Desert.  They 


xi     SWAHILI  AND  OTHER  NATIVE  TRIBES     123 

are  exceedingly  ugly  and  of  a  low  type.  The  men 
wear  nothing  in  the  way  of  dress  but  a  scanty  and 
very  dirty  cloth  thrown  over  the  shoulders,  while 
the  women  attire  themselves  only  in  a  short  kilt 
which  is  tied  round  them  very  lowlat  the  waist. 


"THE  WOMEN  ATTIRE  THEMSELVES  ONLY  IN  A  SHORT  KILT." 

Both  men  and  women  adorn  themselves  with  brass 
chains  round  the  neck  and  coils  of  copper  and  iron 
wire  round  the  arms. 

The  nearest  native  inhabitants  to  Tsavo  are  the 
Wa  Taita,  who  dwell  in  the  mountains  near  N'dii, 
some  thirty  miles  away.  My  work  often  took  me 
to  this  place,  and  on  one  of  my  visits,  finding 


124 


THE  MAN-EATERS  OF  TSAVO          CHAP. 


myself  with  some  spare  time  on  my  hands,  I  set 
out  to  pay  a  long"  promised  visit  to  the  District 
Officer.  A  fairly  good  road  ran  from  N'dii  Station 
to  his  house  at  the  foot  of  the  mountains,  about  four 
miles  away,  and  on  my  arrival  I  was  not  only  most 
hospitably  entertained  but  was  also  introduced  to 


M'gogo,  the  Head  Chief  of  the  Wa  Taita,  who  had 
just  come  in  for  a  shauri  (consultation)  about 
some  affair  of  State.  The  old  fellow  appeared 
delighted  to  meet  me,  and  promptly  invited  me  to 
his  kraal,  some  way  up  the  hills.  I  jumped  at  the 
prospect  of  seeing  the  Wa  Taita  at  home,  so 
presently  off  we  started  on  our  heavy  climb,  my 
Indian  servant,  Bhawal,  coming  with  us.  After  a 


xi     SWAHILI  AND  OTHER  NATIVE  TRIBES     125 

couple  of  hours'  steady  scramble  up  a  steep  and 
slippery  goat-path,  we  arrived  at  M'gogo's  capital, 
where  I  was  at  once  introduced  to  his  wives,  who 
were  busily  engaged  in  making  pombe  (a  native 
fermented  drink)  in  the  hollowed-out  stump  of  a 


"  .MAKING  poillbe    IN    THE    HO1.LOWED-OUT   STUMP   OF    A    TREE." 

tree.  I  presented  one  of  them  with  an  orange  for. 
her  child,  but  she  did  not  understand  what  it  was, 
for  on  tasting  it  she  made  a  wry  face  and  would  not 
eat  it.  Still  she  did  not  throw  it  away,  but  carefully 
put  it  into  a  bag  with  her  other  treasures — doubtless 
for  future  investigation.  As  soon  as  the  women 
saw  Bhawal,  however,  he  became  the  centre  of 
attraction,  and  I  was  eclipsed.  He  happened  to 


126  THE  MAN-EATERS  OF  TSAVO          CHAP. 


have  on  a  new  puggaree,  with  lots  of  gold  work 
on  it,  and  this  took  their  fancy  immensely  ;  they 
examined  every  line  most  carefully  and  went  into 
ecstasies  over  it — just  as  their  European  sisters 
would  have  done  over  the  latest  Parisian  creation. 

We  made  a  short  halt  for  rest  and  refreshment, 
and  then  started  again  on  our  journey  to  the  top  of 
the  hills.  After  a  stiff  climb  for  another  two  hours, 
part  of  it  through  a  thick  black  forest,  we  emerged 
on  the  summit,  where  I  found  I  was  well  rewarded 
for  my  trouble  by  the  magnificent  views  we 
obtained  on  all  sides.  The  great  Kilima  N'jaro 
stood  out  particularly  well,  and  made  a  very  effec- 
tive background  to  the  fine  panorama.  I  was 
surprised  to  find  a  number  of  well-fed  cattle  on  the 
mountain  top,  but  I  fancy  M'gogo  thought  I  was 
casting  an  evil  spell  over  them  when  he  saw  me 
taking  photographs  of  them  as  they  grazed 
peacefully  on  the  sweet  grass  which  covered  the 
plateau. 

Like  most  other  natives  of  Africa,  the  Wa  Taita 
are  exceedingly  superstitious,  and  this  failing  is 
turned  to  good  account  by  the  all-powerful  "  witch- 
doctor "  or  "medicine-man."  It  is,  for  instance,  an 
extraordinary  sight  to  see  the  absolute  faith  with 
which  a  Ki  Taita  will  blow  the  simba-dawa,  or 
"lion  medicine",  to  the  four  points  of  the  compass 
before  lying  down  to  sleep  in  the  open.  This 


xi     SWAHILI  AND  OTHER  NATIVE  TRIBES     127 


daw  a — which  is,  of  course,  obtainable  only  from 
the  witch-doctor — consists  simply  of  a  little  black 
powder,  usually  carried  in  a  tiny  horn  stuck  through 
a  slit  in  the  ear;  but  the  Ki  Taita  firmly  believes 
that  a  few  grains 
of  this  dust  blown 
round  him  from 
the  palm  of  the 
hand  is  a  complete 
safeguard  against 
raging  lions  seek- 
ing whom  they 
may  devour ;  and 
after  the  blowing 
ceremony  he  will 
lie  down  to  sleep  in 
perfect  confidence, 
even  in  the  midst  of 
a  man-eater's  dis- 
trict. In  the  nature 
of  things,  more- 
over, he  never  loses 

this  touching  faith  in  the  efficacy  of  the  witch- 
doctor's charm  ;  for  if  he  is  attacked  by  a  lion,  the 
brute  sees  to  it  that  he  does  not  live  to  become  an 
unbeliever,  while  if  he  is  not  attacked,  it  is  of 
course  quite  clear  that  it  is  to  the  daw  a  that  he 
owes  his  immunity. 


\VA    TAITA    MKN. 


128  THE  MAN-EATERS  OF  TSAVO          CHAP. 

For  the  rest,  the  Wa  Taita  are  essentially  a 
peace-loving  and  industrious  people  ;  and,  indeed, 
before  the  arrival  of  the  British  in  the  country,  they 
hardly  ever  ventured  down  from  their  mountain 
fastnesses,  owing  to  their  dread  of  the  warlike 
Masai.  Each  man  has  as  many  wives  as  he  can 
afford  to  pay  for  in  sheep  or  cattle  ;  he  provides 
each  spouse  with  a  separate  establishment,  but  the 
family  huts  are  clustered  together,  and  as  a  rule  all 
live  in  perfect  harmony.  The  most  curious  custom 
of  the  tribe  is  the  filing  of  the  front  teeth  into  sharp 
points,  which  gives  the  whole  face  a  most  peculiar 
and  rather  diabolical  expression.  As  usual,  their 
ideas  of  costume  are  rather  primitive  ;  the  men 
sometimes  wear  a  scrap  of  cloth  round  the  loins, 
while  the  women  content  themselves  with  the  same 
or  with  a  short  kilt.  Both  sexes  adorn  themselves 
with  a  great  quantity  of  copper  or  iron  wire  coiled 
round  their  arms  and  legs,  and  smear  their  bodies 
all  over  with  grease,  the  men  adding  red  clay  to  the 
mixture.  Many  of  the  women  also  wear  dozens  of 
rows  of  beads,  while  their  ears  are  hung  with  pieces 
of  chain  and  other  fantastic  ornaments.  The  men 
always  carry  bows  and  poisoned  arrows,  as  well  as 
a  seemie  (a  short,  roughly-fashioned  sword)  hung  on 
a  leathern  thong  round  the  waist.  A  three-legged 
stool  is  also  an  important  part  of  their  equipment, 
and  is  slung  on  the  shoulder  when  on  the  march. 


xr     SWAHILI  AND  OTHER  NATIVE  TRIBES     129 


The  next  people  met  with  on  the  road  to  the 
Great  Lakes  are  the  Wa  Kamba,  who  inhabit  the 
Ukambani  province,  and  may  be  seen  from  M'toto 
Andei  to  the  Athi  River.  They  are  a  very  large 
tribe,  but  have  little  cohesion,  being-  split  up  into 
many  clans  under  chiefs 
who  govern  in  a  patri- 
archal kind  of  way.  In 
appearance  and  dress— 
or  the  want  of  it — they 
are  very  like  the  Wa 
Taita,  and  they  have  the 
same  custom  of  filing 
the  front  teeth.  As  a 
rule,  too,  they  are  a 
peace-loving  people, 
though  when  driven  to 
it  by  hunger  they  will 
commit  very  cruel  and 
treacherous  acts  of 
wholesale  murder. 
While  the  railway  was 

being  constructed,  a  severe  famine  occurred  in  their 
part  of  the  country,  when  hundreds  of  them  died  of 
starvation.  During  this  period  they  several  times 
swooped  clown  on  isolated  railway  maintenance  gangs 
and  utterly  annihilated  them,  in  order  to  obtain  pos- 
session of  the  food  which  they  knew  would  be  stored 

K 


M'KAMHA  \YOMAN. 


130  THE  MAN-EATERS  OF  TSAVO        CH.  xi 

in  the  camps.  These  attacks  were  always  made  by 
night.  Like  most  other  native  races  in  East  Africa, 
their  only  arms  are  the  bow  and  poisoned  arrow, 
but  in  the  use  of  these  primitive  weapons  they  are 
specially  expert.  The  arrow-head  remains  in  the 
flesh  when  the  shaft  is  withdrawn,  and  if  the  poison 
is  fresh,  paralysis  and  death  very  quickly  follow,  the 
skin  round  the  wound  turning  yellow  and  mortifying 
within  an  hour  or  two.  This  deadly  poison  is 
obtained,  I  believe,  by  boiling  down  a  particular 
root,  the  arrow-heads  being  clipped  in  the  black, 
pitchy-looking  essence  which  remains.  I  am  glad  to 
say,  however,  that  owing  to  the  establishment  of 
several  Mission  Stations  amongst  them,  the  \Va 
Kamba  are  quickly  becoming  the  most  civilised 
natives  in  the  country  ;  and  the  missionaries  have 
adopted  the  sensible  course  of  teaching  the  people 
husbandry  and  the  practical  arts  and  crafts  of 
everyday  life,  in  addition  to  caring  for  their  spiritual 
needs. 


CHAPTER  XII 

A    NIGHT    AFTER    HIPPO 

DURING  my  stay  at  Tsavo  I  made  many  little 
excursions  into  the  surrounding  country,  and  used 
to  go  off  on  a  short  shooting  and  exploring  expe- 
dition whenever  I  had  the  opportunity.  I  was 
especially  anxious  to  bag  a  hippopotamus,  so  I 
made  up  my  mind  to  try  my  luck  on  the  banks  of 
the  Sabaki.  Unfortunately,  I  possessed  no  heavy 
rifle,  which  is  almost  a  necessity  for  hippo  shooting, 
but  it  occurred  to  me  to  supply  the  deficiency  by 
manufacturing  a  few  cartridges  for  my  smooth-bore. 
In  these  I  had  double  charges  of  powder  and  a 
hardened  bullet  made  of  lead  mixed  with  about 
an  eighth  part  of  tin.  I  well  remember  the  anxiety 
with  which  I  fired  the  first  round  of  my  home-made 
ammunition.  As  I  more  than  half  expected  that 
the  barrel  would  burst,  I  lashed  the  gun  in  the  fork 
of  a  tree,  tied  a  piece  of  string  a  hundred  feet  long- 
to  the  trigger,  and  then — taking  shelter  behind  a 

K  2 


132  THE  MAN-EATERS  OF  TSAVO          CHAP. 


friendly  stump — pulled  off.  To  my  great  satisfac- 
tion the  barrel  stood  the  test  perfectly.  More  than 
that,  on  trying  the  penetrative  effect  of  my  bullets,  I 
found  that  they  would  smash  through  a  steel  plate 
an  eighth  of  an  inch  thick  at  thirty  yards'  range. 
This  was  quite  good  enough  for  my  purpose,  and 
gave  me  great  confidence  in  the  weapon.  All  the 
same,  I  had  a  very  narrow  escape  one  day  while 
manufacturing  some  of  this  ammunition.  My  plan 
was  to  remove  the  shot  from  the  cartridge,  put  in 
the  additional  powder,  and  ram  this  well  in  before 
replacing  the  wad  and  putting  in  the  bullet.  I  had 
clamped  my  refilling  machine  to  my  rough-hewn 
table,  and  was  stamping  the  double  charge  of 
powder  well  down  into  the  cartridge,  when  suddenly, 
for  some  unknown  reason,  the  whole  charge  ex- 
ploded right  into  my  face.  Everything  became 
pitch  dark  to  me,  and  I  groped  my  way  about  the 
little  hut  in  agony  of  mind  as  well  as  of  body,  for  I 
thought  I  had  been  blinded.  I  am  thankful  to  say, 
however,  that  gleams  of  light  soon  began  to  return 
to  my  eyes,  and  in  a  few  hours'  time  I  was  almost 
all  right  again  and  able  to  go  on  with  my  cartridge 
making. 

All  my  preparations  having  been  made,  I  set  out 
for  the  Sabaki,  taking  with  me  my  Indian  gun- 
bearer  Mahina,  my  cook  Mabruki,  a  bhisti  (water- 
carrier),  and  a  couple  of  natives  to  carry  our  odds 


xii  A  NIGHT  AFTER  HIPPO  133 


and  ends.  On  these  occasions  I  usually  took  no 
tent,  but  bivouacked  in  the  open.  We  took  some 
bread  and  a  few  tinned  provisions  with  us,  but  I 
could  always  depend  upon  getting  a  paa,  guinea- 
fowl,  partridge  or  rock-rabbit  for  the  larder  on  the 
march.  These  rock-rabbits  are  more  like  big  rats 
than  rabbits,  and  are  found  in  oreat  numbers  amon<r 

o  o 

the  rocks  along  the  banks  of  the  rivers.  They  are 
not  at  all  bad  eating,  but  the  Swahili  will  not  touch 
them.  They  call  them  tupu  (shameless,  naked 
things),  owing  to  their  lack  of  a  tail,  of  which  indeed 
they  possess  not  even  a  vestige. 

Our  route  lay  by  the  always  interesting  Tsavo 
River.  Along  the  banks  everything  within  reach  of 
its  moisture  is  delightfully  fresh  and  green.  Palms 
and  other  trees,  festooned  with  brilliant  flowering 
creepers,  flourish  along  its  course ;  all  kinds  of 
monkeys  chatter  and  jabber  in  the  shade  overhead 
as  they  swing  themselves  from  branch  to  branch, 
while  birds  of  the  most  gorgeous  plumage  flutter 
about,  giving  a  very  tropical  aspect  to  the  scene. 
On  the  other  hand,  if  one  is  tempted  to  stray  away 
from  the  river,  be  it  only  for  a  few  yards,  one  comes 
immediately  into  the  parched,  thorny  wilderness  of 
stunted,  leafless  trees.  Here  the  sun  beats  down 
pitilessly,  and  makes  the  nyika  of  the  Tsavo  valley 
almost  intolerable.  The  river  has  its  source  at  the 
foot  of  snow-crowned  Kilima  N'jaro,  whence  it 


i34  THE  MAN-EATERS  OF  TSAVO          CHAP. 

flows  for  about  eighty  miles  in  a  northerly  direction 
until  it  joins  the  Athi  River,  about  seven  miles 
below  Tsavo  Station.  From  this  point  the  united 
streams  take  the  name  of  Sabaki  and  flow  more  or 
less  eastwards  until  they  reach  the  Indian  Ocean  at 
Malindi,  some  seventy  miles  north  of  Mombasa. 

A  narrow  and  tortuous  Masai  warpath  winds 
along  its  whole  length,  but  although  we  followed 
this  trail  our  journey  was  nevertheless  a  very  slow 


"  UNTIL    IT  JOINS   THE    ATHI    RIVER." 

one,  owing  to  the  overhanging  branches  and 
creepers,  from  which  we  had  constantly  to  be  dis- 
engaged. The  march  was  full  of  interest,  however, 
for  it  was  not  long  before  we  came  upon  fresh  tracks 
both  of  hippo  and  rhino.  Every  now  and  again, 
also,  we  caught  glimpses  of  startled  bush-buck  and 
water-buck,  while  occasionally  the  sound  of  a  splash 
in  the  water  told  of  a  wary  crocodile.  We  had  gone 
about  half  the  distance  to  the  Sabaki  when  we  came 
upon  an  unexpected  obstacle  in  the  shape  of  a  great 


xii  A  NIGHT  AFTER  HIPPO 


J35 


ridge  of  barren,  rugged  rock,  about  a  hundred  feet 
high,  which  extended  for  about  a  mile  or  so  on  both 
banks  of  the  river.      The  sides  of  this  gorge  went 
sheer  down    into    the    water,   and    were    quite    im- 
possible to  scale.      I   therefore  determined  to  make 
a  detour  round  it,  but  Mahina  was  confident  that  he 
could  walk  along  in  the  river  itself.      I  hinted  mildly 
at  the  possibility  of  there  being  crocodiles  under  the 
rocky    ledges.       Mahina    declared,    however,     that 
there  was  no  clanger,  and  making  a   bundle  of  his 
lower  garments,  he  tied  it  to  his  back  and  stepped 
into  the  water.      For  a  few  minutes  all  went  well. 
Then,  in  an  instant,  he  was  lifted  right  off  his  feet 
by  the  rush  of  the  water  and  whirled  away.     The 
river  took  a  sharp  bend  in  this  gorge,  and  he  was 
round  it  and  out  of  our  sight  in  no  time,  the   last 
glimpse  we  caught  of  him  showing  him  vainly  trying 
to  catch  hold  of  an  overhanging  branch.     Although 
we  at  once  made  all  the  haste  we  could  to  get  round 
the  ridge  of  rocks,  it  took  us  nearly  half  an  hour  to 
do  it.      I  had  almost  given  up  hope  of  ever  seeing 
Mahina    again,    and    was   much    relieved,  therefore, 
when  we  reached  the  river-side  once  more,  to  find 
him  safe  and    sound,  and    little    the    worse  for  his 
adventure.      Luckily  he  had  been  dashed  up  against 
a   rushy   bank,  and  had   managed   to   scramble  out 
with  no  more  serious  damage  than  a  bruised  shin. 
Eventually    we    arrived    at    the   junction    of   the 


'36 


THE  MAN-EATERS  OF  TSAVO 


CHAP. 


rivers  and  proceeded  some  way  down  the  Sabaki, 
beside  which  the  Tsavo  looks  very  insignificant. 
Several  islands  are  dotted  about  in  mid-stream 
and  are  overgrown  with  tall  reeds  and  rushes, 
in  which  hippo  find  capital  covert  all  the  year 


"THE  BANKS  OK  THE  SABAKI  ARE  LINED- WITH  TREES." 

round.  As  with  the  Tsavo,  the  banks  of  the 
Sabaki  are  lined  with  trees  of  various  kinds, 
affording  most  welcome  shade  from  the  heat  of 
the  sun  :  and  skirting  the  river  is  a  caravan  road 
from  the  interior — still  used,  I  believe,  for  smug- 
gling slaves  and  ivory  to  the  coast,  where  dhows 
are  in  readiness  to  convey  them  to  Persia  or  Arabia. 


xii  A  NIGHT  AFTER  HIPPO  137 

After  an  early  dinner,  which  Mabruki  soon  got 
ready,  I  left  my  followers  encamped  in  a  safe 
boma  a  mile  away  from  the  river,  and  started 
out  with  Mahina  to  find  a  suitable  tree,  near  a 
hippo  "  run  ",  in  which  to  spend  the  night. 
Having  some  difficulty  in  finding  a  likely  spot, 
we  crossed  to  the  other  side  of  the  river— 
rather  a  risky  thing  to  do  on  account  of  the 
number  of  crocodiles  in  it  :  we  found  a  fairly 
shallow  ford,  however,  and  managed  to  get  safely 
over.  Here,  on  what  was  evidently  an  island 
during  flood  time,  we  found  innumerable  traces  of 
both  hippo  and  rhino — in  fact  the  difficulty  was 
to  decide  which  track  was  the  best  and  freshest. 
At  length  I  picked  out  a  tree  close  to  the  river 
and  commanding  a  stretch  of  sand  which  was  all 
flattened  down  and  looked  as  if  at  least  one  hippo 
rolled  there  regularly  every  night. 

As  there  was  still  about  an  hour  before  sundown, 
we  did  not  take  up  our  station  at  once,  but  pro- 
ceeded along  the  bank  to  see  if  any  other  game  was 
about.  We  had  not  gone  very  far  when  Mahina, 
who  was  a  little  way  ahead,  signalled  to  me,  and 
on  joining  him  I  saw  a  splendid-looking  water- 
buck  standing  in  a  shallow  pool  of  the  river.  It 
was  the  first  time  I  had  seen  one  of  these  fine 
antelope,  and  I  was  delighted  with  the  sight.  I 
might  have  got  twenty  yards  or  so  nearer,  but 


138  THE  MAN-EATERS  OF  TSAVO          CHAP. 

I  thought  I  had  better  not  risk  moving,  so  I 
aimed  at  the  shoulder  and  fired.  The  buck  gave 
one  leap  into  the  air,  and  then  turned  and  galloped 
quickly  behind  an  island  which  completely  hid 
him  from  view.  We  waited  for  him  to  clear  the 
rushes  at  the  other  end  of  this  island,  but  as  he 
did  not  appear  I  got  impatient  and  plunged  into 
the  river,  regardless  of  crocodiles  or  anything 
else.  On  rounding  the  island,  however,  he  was 
nowhere  to  be  seen,  and  had  evidently  turned 
off  while  in  the  shelter  of  the  reeds  and  so 
gained  the  opposite  bank.  I  was  keenly  dis- 
appointed at  my  failure,  for  it  was  impossible  to 
follow  him  up  :  to  do  so  we  should  have  had  to 
make  a  long  detour  to  get  across  the  river,  and 
by  that  time  darkness  would  have  set  in.  This 
incident  shows  the  great  drawback  to  the  '303 
— namely,  that  it  has  very  little  knock-down  effect 
unless  it  strikes  a  vital  part ;  and  even  then,  in 
a  bush  country,  an  animal  may  manage  to  go 
far  enough  to  be  lost.  On  the  other  hand,  an 
animal  wounded  with  a  hard  bullet  is  likely  to 
make  a  speedy  recovery,  which  is  a  great  blessing. 

Mahina  was  even  more  upset  at  the  escape  of  the 
buck  than  I  was,  and  as  we  trudged  back  through 
the  sand  to  our  tree,  he  was  full  of  gloomy  forebod- 
ings of  an  unlucky  night.  By  the  light  of  a 
splendid  full  moon  we  settled  ourselves  on  a  great 


xii  A  NIGHT  AFTER  HIPPO  139 

outspreading  branch,  and  commenced  our  vigil. 
Soon  the  jungle  around  us  began  to  be  alive 
with  its  peculiar  sounds — a  night  bird  would  call, 
a  crocodile  shut  his  jaws  with  a  snap,  or  a  rhino 
or  hippo  crash  through  the  bushes  on  its  way  to 
the  water  :  now  and  again  we  could  even  hear 
the  distant  roar  of  the  lion.  Still  there  was  nothing 
to  be  seen. 

After  waiting  for  some  considerable  time,  a 
great  hippo  at  last  made  his  appearance  and 
came  splashing  along  in  our  direction,  but  unfor- 
tunately took  up  his  position  behind  a  tree  which, 
in  the  most  tantalising  way,  completely  hid  him 
from  view.  Here  he  stood  tooting  and  snorting 
and  splashing  about  to  his  heart's  content.  For 
what  seemed  hours  I  watched  for  this  ungainly 
creature  to  emerge  from  his  covert,  but  as  he 
seemed  determined  not  to  show  himself  I  lost 
patience  and  made  up  my  mind  to  go  down  after 
him.  I  therefore  handed  my  rifle  to  Mahina  to 
lower  to  me  on  reaching  the  ground,  and  began 
to  descend  carefully,  holding  on  by  the  creepers 
which  encircled  the  tree.  To  my  intense  vexation 
and  disappointment,  just  as  I  was  in  this  helpless 
condition,  half-way  to  the  ground,  the  great 
hippo  suddenly  came  out  from  his  shelter  and 
calmly  lumbered  along  right  underneath  me.  I 
bitterly  lamented  my  ill-luck  and  want  of  patience, 


140  THE  MAN-EATERS  OF  TSAVO          CHAP. 

for  I  could  almost  .have  touched  his  broad  back 
as  he  passed.  It  was  under  these  exasperating- 
conditions  that  I  saw  a  hippo  for  the  first  time,  and 
without  doubt  he  is  the  ugliest  and  most  forbidding 
looking  brute  I  have  ever  beheld. 

The  moment  the  great  beast  had  passed  our  tree, 
he  scented  us,  snorted  loudly,  and  dived  into  the 
bushes  close  by,  smashing  through  them  like  a 
traction  engine.  In  screwing  myself  round  to 
watch  him  go,  I  broke  the  creepers  by  which  I  was 
holding  on  and  landed  on  my  back  in  the  sand  at 
the  foot  of  the  tree— none  the  worse  for  my  short 
drop,  but  considerably  startled  at  the  thought  that 
the  hippo  might  come  back  at  any  moment.  I 
climbed  up  to  my  perch  again  without  loss  of  time, 
but  he  was  evidently  as  much  frightened  as  I  was, 
and  returned  no  more.  Shortly  after  this  we  saw- 
two  rhino  come  down  to  the  river  to  drink  ;  they 
were  too  far  off  for  a  shot,  however,  so  I  did  not 
disturb  them,  and  they  gradually  waddled  up-stream 
out  of  sight.  Then  we  heard  the  awe-inspiring- 
roar  of  a  hungry  lion  close  by,  and  presently 
another  hippo  gave  forth  his  tooting  challenge  a 
little  way  down  the  river.  As  there  seemed  no 
likelihood  of  getting  a  shot  at  him  from  our  tree,  I 
made  up  my  mind  to  stalk  him  on  foot,  so  we  both 
descended  from  our  perch  and  made  our  way  slowly- 
through  the  trees  in  the  semi-darkness.  There 


xii  A  NIGHT  AFTER  HIPPO  141 


were  numbers  of  animals  about,  and  I  am  sure  that 
neither  of  us  felt  very  comfortable  as  we  crept  along 
in  the  direction  of  the  splashing  hippo  ;  for  my  own 
part  I  fancied  every  moment  that  I  saw  in  front  of 
me  the  form  of  a  rhino  or  a  lion  ready  to  charge 
down  upon  us  out  of  the  shadow  of  the  bush. 

In  this  manner,  with  nerves  strung  to  the  highest 
pitch,  we  reached  the  edge  of  the  river  in  safety, 
only  to  find  that  we  were  again  baulked  by  a  small 
rush-covered  island,  on  the  other  side  of  which  our 
quarry  could  be  heard.  There  was  a  good  breeze 
blowing  directly  from  him,  however,  so  I  thought 
the  best  thing  to  do  was  to  attempt  to  get  on  to  the 
island  and  to  have  a  shot  at  him  from  there. 
Mahina,  too,  was  eager  for  the  fray,  so  we  let  our- 
selves quietly  into  the  water,  which  here  was  quite 
shallow  and  reached  only  to  our  knees,  and  waded 
slowly  across.  On  peering  cautiously  through  the 
reeds  at  the  corner  of  the  island,  I  was  surprised  to 
find  that  I  could  see  nothing  of  the  hippo  ;  but  I 
soon  realised  that  I  was  looking  too  far  ahead,  for 
on  lowering  my  eyes  there  he  was,  not  twenty-five 
yards  away,  lying  down  in  the  shallow  water,  only 
half  covered  and  practically  facing  us.  His 
closeness  to  us  made  me  rather  anxious  for  our 
safety,  more  especially  as  just  then  he  rose  to  his 
feet  and  gave  forth  the  peculiar  challenge  or  call 
which  we  had  already  heard  so  often  during  the 


142  THE  MAN-EATERS  OF  TSAVO        CH.  xn 


night.  All  the  same,  as  he  raised  his  head,  I  fired 
at  it.  He  whirled  round,  made  a  plunge  forward, 
staggered  and  fell,  and  then  lay  quite  still.  To 
make  assurance  doubly  sure,  I  gave  him  a  couple 
more  bullets  as  he  lay,  but  we  found  afterwards 
that  they  were  not  needed,  as  my  first  shot  had  been 
a  very  lucky  one  and  had  penetrated  the  brain. 
We  left  him  where  he  fell  and  got  back  to  our 
perch,  glad  and  relieved  to  be  in  safety  once  more. 
As  soon  as  it  was  daylight  we  were  joined  by  my 
own  men  and  by  several  Wa  Kamba,  who  had 
been  hunting  in  the  neighbourhood.  The  natives 
cut  out  the  tusks  of  the  hippo,  which  were  rather 
good  ones,  and  feasted  ravenously  on  the  flesh, 
while  I  turned  my  attention  with  gratitude  to  the 
hot  coffee  and  cakes  which  Mabruki  had  meanwhile 
prepared. 


CHAPTER  XIII 

A    DAY    ON    THE    N'l)UNGU    ESCARPMENT 

IMMEDIATELY  after  breakfast  camp  was  struck, 
and  accompanied  by  a  few  of  the  Wa  Kamba,  we 
started  off  for  the  N'dungu  Escarpment — a  frown- 
ing ridge  which  runs  for  a  great  distance  parallel  to 
the  Sabaki,  some  three  or  four  miles  from  its 
northern  bank.  We  had  not  gone  very  far  before  I 
caught  sight  of  a  fine  water-buck  and  successfully 
bowled  him  over — a  good  omen  for  the  day,  which 
put  us  all  in  excellent  spirits.  Mabruki  cut  off 
several  strips  of  the  tough  meat  and  impaled  them 
on  a  sharp  stick  to  dry  in  the  sun  as  he  went  along. 
I  warned  him  that  he  had  better  be  careful  that  a 
lion  did  not  scent  the  meat,  as  if  it  did  it  would  be 
sure  to  follow  up  and  kill  him.  Of  course  I  did  not 
mean  this  seriously  ;  but  Mabruki  was  a  great 
glutton,  and  by  no  means  courageous,  so  I  wanted 
to  frighten  him. 

As  we  trudged  along  towards  the  hill,  I   heard  a 


THE  MAN-EATERS  OF  TSAVO 


CHAP. 


peculiar  noise  behind  a  small  rising  on  our  right, 
and  on  looking  over  the  crest,  I  was  delighted  to 
see  two  beautiful  giraffe  feeding  peacefully  a  little 


"  I    CAUGHT    SIGHT   OF   A    FINE     \VATERI5UCK     AM)     SUCCESSFULLY 
BOWLED   HIM   OVKR." 


distance  away  and  straining  their  long  necks  to  get 
at  the  tops  of  some  mimosa-like  trees,  while  a  young 
one  was  lying  down  in  the  grass  quite  close  to  me. 
For  some  time  I  remained  concealed,  watching  the 


xin    A  DAY  ON  THE  N'DUNGU  ESCARPMENT   145 


full-grown  pair  with  great  interest  :  they  had  evi- 
dently just  come  up  from  the  river,  and  were  slowly 
making  their  way  back  to  their  home  on  the  escarp- 
ment. They  seemed  on  the  most  affectionate  terms, 
occasionally  entwining  their  great  long  necks  and 


"A    YOUNG    ONE   WAS    LYING    DOWN    IN    THE   C.RASS   (JUITK   CLOSE 
TO    ME." 


gently  biting  each  other  on  the  shoulders.  Much 
as  I  should  have  liked  to  have  added  a  giraffe  to 
my  collection  of  trophies,  I  left  them  undisturbed, 
as  I  think  it  a  pity  to  shoot  these  rather  rare  and 
very  harmless  creatures,  unless  one  is  required  for  a 
special  purpose. 

We  pushed  on,  accordingly,  towards  the  escarp- 


146  THE  MAN-EATERS  OF  TSAVO         CHAP. 


ment,  for  I  was  very  impatient  to  get  to  the  top  and 
explore  a  place  where  I  felt  convinced  no  other 
white  man  had  ever  set  foot.  From  the  river  the 
ground  rose  gently  upwards  to  the  foot  of  the  ridge, 
and  was  covered  more  or  less  densely  with  stunted 
trees  and  bushes,  and  of  course  the  inevitable 
"  wait-a-bit "  thorns.  I  was  fortunate  enough, 
however,  to  find  a  rhino  path  which  afforded  a  fairly 
comfortable  and  open  road,  on  which  we  could 
walk  upright  the  greater  part  of  the  way.  The 
climb  up  the  escarpment  itself  was  a  stiff  one,  and 
had  to  be  negotiated  principally  on  all-fours,  but  on 
the  way  up  I  discovered  that  there  was  an  enormous 
cleft  some  miles  to  the  right  which  would  probably 
have  afforded  an  easier  ascent.  I  had  not  time  to 
explore  it  on  this  particular  day,  but  I  made  a 
mental  note  to  do  so  on  some  future  occasion. 

After  a  two  hours'  journey  from  the  river  we  sat 
panting  on  the  summit  after  our  scramble  and  sur- 
veyed the  valley  of  the  Tsavo,  which  lay  spread  out 
like  a  map  about  five  hundred  feet  below  us.  Our 
home  tents,  the  bridge,  Tsavo  Station  and  other 
buildings  were  plainly  visible,  and  the  railway  itself, 
like  a  shining  snake,  could  be  seen  for  many  miles 
winding  its  way  through  the  parched  wilderness. 
Having  taken  a  few  photographs  of  the  scene,  we 
turned  and  struck  through  the  N'dungu  Plateau. 
Here  I  found  the  same  kind  of  nyika  as  that  round 


xiu    A  DAY  ON  THE  N'DUNGU  ESCARPMENT   147 

Tsavo,  the  only  difference  being-  that  there  were 
more  green  trees  about.  The  country,  moreover, 
was  somewhat  more  open,  and  was  intersected  by 
hundreds  of  broad  and  well-beaten  animal  paths, 
along  which  we  could  walk  upright  in  comfort.  I  was 
leading  the  way,  followed  closely  by  Mahina  and 
Mabruki,  when  suddenly  we  almost  walked  upon  a 
lion  which  was  lying  down  at  the  side  of  the 
path  and  which  had  probably  been  asleep.  It  gave 
a  fierce  growl  and  at  once  bounded  off  through  the 
bush  ;  but  to  Mabruki — who  doubtless  recalled  then 
the  warning  I  had  given  him  in  fun  earlier  in  the 
day — the  incident  appeared  so  alarming  that  he  flung 
down  his  stick-load  of  meat  and  fled  for  his  life, 
much  to  the  amusement  of  the  others,  even  the 
usually  silent  Wa  Kamba  joining  in  the  general 
laughter  as  they  scrambled  for  the  discarded  meat. 
\Ve  saw  nothing  more  of  the  lion,  though  a  few  steps 
further  on  brought  us  to  the  remains  of  a  zebra 

o 

which  he  had  recently  killed  and  feasted  on  ;  but 
after  this  Mabruki  kept  carefully  in  the  rear. 
Curiously  enough,  only  a  short  while  later  we 
had  an  exactly  similar  adventure  with  a  rhino,  as 
owing  to  the  tortuous  nature  of  the  path,  we  walked 
rio-ht  into  it  before  we  were  aware.  Like  the 

o 

lion,  however,  it  was  more  frightened  than  we,  and 
charged  away  from  us  through  the  jungle. 

For  about  two  hours  we  pursued  our  journey  into 

L  2 


148  THE  MAN-EATERS  OF  TSAVO          CHAP. 

the  plateau,  and  saw  and  heard  a  wonderful  variety 
of  game,  including-  giraffe,  rhino,  bush-buck,  the 
lesser  kudu,  zebra,  wart  -  hog,  baboons  and 
monkeys,  and  any  number  of  pact,  the  last  being  of 
a  redder  colour  than  those  of  the  Tsavo  valley.  Of 
natives  or  of  human  habitations,  however,  we  saw 
no  signs,  and  indeed  the  whole  region  was  so 
dry  and  waterless  as  to  be  quite  uninhabitable.  The 
animals  that  require  water  have  to  make  a  nightly 
journey  to  and  from  the  Sabaki,  which  accounts  for 
the  thousands  of  animal  paths  leading  from  the 
plateau  to  the  river. 

By  this  time  we  were  all  beginning  to  feel 
very  tired,  and  the  bkistis  stock  of  water  was 
running  low.  I  therefore  climbed  the  highest 
tree  I  could  find  in  order  to  have  a  good  look 
round,  but  absolutely  nothing  could  I  see  in  any 
direction  but  the  same  flat  thorny  wilderness,  inter- 
spersed here  and  there  with  a  few  green  trees  ; 
not  a  landmark  of  any  sort  or  kind  as  far  as 
the  eye  could  reach  ;  a  most  hopeless,  terrible 
place  should  one  be  lost  in  it,  with  certain  death 
either  by  thirst  or  by  savage  beasts  staring  one 
in  the  face.  Clearly,  then,  the  only  thing  to  do 
was  to  return  to  the  river  ;  and  in  order  to  accom- 
plish this  before  dark  it  was  necessary  that  no  time 
should  be  lost.  But  we  had  been  winding  in  and 
out  so  much  through  the  animal  paths  that  it  was  no 


xin  A  DAY  ON  THE  N'DUNGU  ESCARPMENT   149 


easy  matter  to  say  in  which  direction  the  Sabaki  lay. 
First  I  consulted  my  Wa  Kamba  followers  as  to  the 
route  back  ;  they  simply  shook  their  heads.  Then 
I  asked  Mahma,  who  pointed  out  a  direction  exactly 
opposite  to  that  which  I  felt  confident  was  the  right 
one.  Mabruki,  of  course,  knew  nothing,  but  volun- 
teered the  helpful  and  cheering  information  that 
we  were  lost  and  would  all  be  killed  by  lions. 
In  these  circumstances,  I  confirmed  my  own  idea 
as  to  our  way  by  comparing  my  watch  and  the 
sun,  and  gave  the  order  to  start  at  once.  For 
two  solid  hours,  however,  we  trudged  along  in 
the  fearful  heat  without  striking  a  single  familiar 
object  or  landmark.  Mabruki  murmured  loudly ; 
even  Mahina  expressed  grave  doubts  as  to  whether 
the  "  Sahib  "  had  taken  the  right  direction  ;  only 
the  Wa  Kamba  stalked  along  in  re-assuring  silence. 
For  some  time  we  had  been  following  a  broad 
white  rhino  path,  and  the  great  footmarks  of  one 
of  these  beasts  were  fresh  and  plainly  visible  in 
the  dust.  He  had  been  travelling  in  the  opposite 
direction  to  us,  and  I  felt  sure  that  he  must  have 
been  returning  from  drinking  in  the  river.  I 
accordingly  insisted  on  our  keeping  to  this  path, 
and  very  soon,  to  my  great  relief,  we  found  that  we 
were  at  the  edge  of  the  escarpment,  a  couple  of 
miles  away  from  the  place  where  we  had  made  the 
ascent.  Here  a  halt  was  called  ;  a  sheet  was  spread 


i5o  THE  MAN-EATERS  OF  TSAVO         CHAP. 

over  some  of  the  stunted  trees,  and  under  its  shade 
we  rested  for  half  an  hour,  had  some  food,  and  drank 
the  last  of  our  water.  After  this  we  pushed  on 
with  renewed  vigour,  and  arrived  at  the  Sabaki 
in  good  time  before  sundown,  having  bagged  a 
couple  of  guinea-fowl  and  a  paa  on  the  way  to  serve 
for  dinner.  After  the  long  and  fatiguing  day  my 
bathe  in  a  clear  shady  pool  was  a  real  delight,  but  I 
might  not  have  enjoyed  it  quite  so  much  if  I 
had  known  then  of  the  terrible  fate  which  awaited 
one  of  my  followers  in  the  same  river  the  next  clay. 
By  the  time  I  got  back  to  camp  supper  was  ready 
and  fully  appreciated.  The  tireless  Mahina  had 
also  collected  some  dry  grass  for  my  bed,  and  I 
turned  in  at  once,  with  my  rifle  handy,  and  slept  the 
sleep  of  the  just,  regardless  of  all  the  wild  beasts  in 
Africa. 

At  dawn  Mabruki  roused  me  with  a  cup  of 
steaming  hot  coffee  and  some  biscuits,  and  a  start 
was  at  once  made  on  our  return  journey  to  Tsavo. 
The  place  where  we  had  struck  the  Sabaki  the 
previous  evening  was  some  miles  further  down  the 
stream  than  I  had  ever  been  before,  so  I  decided  to 
take  advantage  of  the  Masai  trail  along  its  bank 
until  the  Tsavo  River  was  reached.  I  did  not  think 
we  should  meet  with  any  further  adventure  on 
our  way  home,  but  in  the  wilds  the  unexpected  is 
always  happening.  Shortly  after  we  started  one  of 


xin  A  DAY  ON  THE  N'DUNGU  ESCARPMENT    151 


the  Wa  Kamba  went  down  to  the  river's  edge 
to  fill  his  calabash  with  water,  when  a  crocodile 
suddenly  rose  up  out  of  the  stream,  seized  the  poor 
fellow  and  in  a  moment  had  dragged  him  in.  I  was 
on  ahead  at  the  time  and  so  did  not  witness  the 
occurrence,  but  on  hearing  the  cries  of  the  others  I 


A   CROCODILE   ON   THE   SABAKI. 


ran  back  as  quickly  as  possible — too  late,  however, 
to  see  any  sign  of  either  crocodile  or  native. 
Mahina  philosophically  remarked  that  after  all  it  was 
only  a  washenzi  (savage),  whose  loss  did  not  much 
matter  ;  and  the  other  three  Wa  Kamba  certainly 
did  not  appear  to  be  affected  by  the  incident,  but 
calmly  possessed  themselves  of  their  dead  com- 
panion's bow  and  quiver  of  poisoned  arrows,  and 


152  THE  MAN-EATERS  OF  TSAVO       CH.  xm 

of  the    stock    of   meat   which    he    had    left   on    the 
bank. 

I  have  since  learned  that  accidents  of  this  kind 
are  of  fairly  frequent  occurrence  along  the  banks  of 
these  rivers.  On  one  occasion  while  I  was  in  the 
country  a  British  officer  had  a  very  lucky  escape. 
He  was  filling  his  water  bottle  at  the  river,  when 
one  of  these  brutes  caught  him  by  the  hand  and 
attempted  to  draw  him  in.  Fortunately  one  of  his 
servants  rushed  to  his  assistance  and  managed  to 
pull  him  out  of  the  crocodile's  clutches  with  the  loss 
only  of  two  of  his  fingers. 

As  we  made  our  way  up  the  Sabaki,  we 
discovered  a  beautiful  waterfall  about  a  hundred' 
and  fifty  feet  high — not  a  sheer  drop,  but  a  series 
of  cascades.  At  this  time  the  river  was  in  low 
water,  and  the  falls  consequently  did  not  look  their 
best ;  but  in  flood  time  they  form  a  fine  sight,  and 
the  thunder  of  the  falling  water  can  then  be  plainly 
heard  at  Tsavo,  over  seven  miles  away,  when  the 
wind  is  in  the  right  direction.  We  crossed  the 
river  on  the  rocks  at  the  head  of  these  falls,  and 
after  some  hours'  hard  marching  reached  camp 
without  further  incident. 


CHAPTER  XIV 

THE    FINDING    OF    THE    MAN-EATERS*    DEN 

THERE  were  some  rocky-looking  hills  lying  to  the 
south-west  of  Tsavo  which  I  was  particularly 
anxious  to  explore,  so  on  one  occasion  when  work 
had  been  stopped  for  the  day  owing  to  lack  of 
material,  I  set  off  for  them,  accompanied  by  Mahina 
and  a  Punjaubi  coolie,  who  was  so  stout  that  he 
went  by  the  name  of  Moota  (i.e.  "  Fattie ").  In 
the  course  of  my  little  excursions  round  Tsavo  I 
gradually  discovered  that  I  was  nearly  always  able 
to  make  my  way  to  any  required  point  of  the 
compass  by  following  certain  well-defined  animal 
paths,  which  I  mapped  out  bit  by  bit  during  my 
explorations.  On  this  occasion,  for  instance,  as 
soon  as  we  had  crossed  the  river  and  had  struck 
into  the  jungle,  we  were  fortunate  enough  to  find  a 
rhino  path  leading  in  the  right  direction,  which 
greatly  facilitated  our  progress.  As  we  were  making 
our  way  along  this  path  through  the  dry  bed  of  a 


i54  THE  MAN-EATERS  OF  TSAVO          CHAP. 

nullah,  I  happened  to  notice  that  the  sandy  bottom 
sparkled  here  and  there  where  the  sunbeams  pene- 
trated the  dense  foliage.  This  at  once  filled  my 
head  with  thoughts  of  precious  stones,  and  as  the 
spot  looked  likely  enough,  I  started  to  dig  vigorously 
at  the  gravel  with  my  hunting  knife.  After  a  few 
minutes  of  this  work,  I  came  across  what  I  at  first 
took  to  be  a  magnificent  diamond  sparkling  in  the 
damp  sand  :  it  was  about  half  an  inch  long,  and  its 
facets  looked  as  if  they  had  been  cut  by  an 
Amsterdam  expert.  I  tested  the  stone  on  my  watch 
glass  and  found  that  it  cut  my  initials  quite  easily, 
and  though  I  knew  that  quartz  would  do  this  as 
well,  it  did  not  seem  to  me  to  have  either  the  general 
appearance  or  angles  of  any  quartz  I  had  ever  seen. 
For  a  moment  or  two  I  was  greatly  delighted  with 
my  discovery,  and  began  to  have  rosy  dreams  of  a 
diamond  mine  ;  but  I  am  sorry  to  say  that  on  closer 
examination  and  testing  I  was  forced  to  the  con- 
clusion that  my  find  was  not  a  diamond,  though 
unlike  any  other  mineral  I  had  ever  come  across. 

My  hopes  of  rapidly  becoming  a  millionaire  having 
thus  been  dashed  to  the  ground,  we  proceeded  on 
our  way,  getting  further  and  further  into  the  depths 
of  a  gloomy  forest.  A  little  distance  on,  I  noticed 
through  a  break  in  the  trees  a  huge  rhino  standing 
in  full  view  near  the  edge  of  a  ravine.  Unfor- 
tunately he  caught  sight  of  us  as  well,  and  before  I 


xiv         FINDING  THE  MAN-EATERS'  DEN          155 


could  take  aim,  he  snorted  loudly  and  crashed  off 
through  the  tangled  undergrowth.  As  I  followed  up 
this  ravine,  walking  stealthily  along  in  the  delightful 
shade  of  the  overhanging  palms,  I  observed  on 
my  left  a  little  nullah  which  opened  out  of  the 
main  channel  through  a  confused  mass  of  jungle 
and  creeper.  Through  this  tangle  there  was  a 
well-defined  archway,  doubtless  made  by  the  regular 
passage  of  rhino  and  hippo,  so  I  decided  to  enter 
and  explore  what  lay  beyond.  I  had  not  gone  very 
far  when  I  came  upon  a  big  bay  scooped  out  of  the 
bank  by  the  stream  when  in  flood  and  carpeted  with 
a  deposit  of  fine,  soft  sand,  in  which  were  the 
indistinct  tracks  of  numberless  animals.  In  one 
corner  of  this  bay,  close  under  an  overhanging  tree, 
stood  a  little  sandy  hillock,  and  on  looking  over  the 
top  of  this  I  saw  on  the  other  side  a  fearsome- 
looking  cave  which  seemed  to  run  back  for  a  con- 
siderable distance  under  the  rocky  bank.  Round 
the  entrance  and  inside  the  cavern  I  was  thunder- 
struck to  find  a  number  of  human  bones,  with  here 
and  there  a  copper  bangle  such  as  the  natives  wear. 
Beyond  all  doubt,  the  man-eaters'  den!  In  this 
manner,  and  quite  by  accident,  I  stumbled  upon  the 
lair  of  these  once-dreaded  "  demons  ",  which  I  had 
spent  so  many  days  searching  for  through  the 
exasperating  and  interminable  jungle  during  the 
time  when  they  terrorised  Tsavo,  I  had  no  in- 


i56 


THE  MAN-EATERS  OF  TSAVO 


CHAP. 


clination  to  explore  the  gloomy  depths  of  the 
interior,  but  thinking  that  there  might  possibly  still 
be  a  lioness  or  cub  inside,  I  fired  a  shot  or  two  into 
the  cavern  through  a  hole  in  the  roof.  Save  for  a 
swarm  of  bats,  nothing  came  out  ;  and  after  taking 
a  photograph  of  the  cave,  I  gladly  left  the  horrible 


"BEYOND  ALL  DOUBT,  THE  MAN-EATERS'  DEN  !" 

spot,  thankful  that  the  savage  and  insatiable  brutes 
which  once  inhabited  it  were  no  longer  at  large. 

Retracing  my  steps  to  the  main  ravine,  I  continued 
my  journey  along  it.  After  a  little  while  I  fancied 
I  saw  a  hippo  among  some  tall  rushes  growing  on 
the  bank,  and  quickly  signed  to  Mahina  and  Moota 
to  stay  perfectly  still.  I  then  made  a  careful  stalk, 
only  to  discover,  after  all  my  trouble,  that  my  eyes 


xiv         FINDING  THE  MAN-EATERS'  DEN          157 

had  deceived  me  and  made  me  imagine  a  black 
bank  and  a  few  rushes  to  be  a  living  animal.  We 
now  left  the  bed  of  the  ravine,  and  advanced  along 
the  top.  This  turned  out  to  be  a  good  move,  for 
soon  we  heard  the  galloping  of  a  herd  of  some 
animal  or  other  across  our  front.  I  rushed  round  a 
corner  in  the  path  a  few  yards  ahead,  and  crouching 
under  the  bushes  saw  a  line  of  startled  zebras 
flying  past.  This  was  the  first  time  I  had  seen 
these  beautifully  marked  animals  in  their  wild  state, 
so  I  selected  the  largest  and  fired,  and  as  I  was 
quite  close  to  them  he  dropped  in  his  tracks  stone- 
dead.  When  I  stood  over  the  handsome  creature  I 
was  positively  sorry  for  having  killed  him.  Not  so 
Moota,  however,  who  rushed  up  in  ecstasy,  and 
before  I  could  stop  him  had  cut  his  throat.  This 
was  done,  as  he  remarked,  "  to  make  the  meat 
lawful,"  for  Moota  was  a  devout  follower  of  the 
Prophet,  and  no  true  Mohammedan  will  eat  the 
flesh  of  any  animal  unless  the  throat  has  been  cut 
at  the  proper  place  and  the  blood  allowed  to  flow. 
This  custom  has  often  caused  me  great  annoyance, 
for  Mohammedan  followers  rush  in  so  quickly  when 
an  animal  is  shot  and  cut  the  head  off  so  short  that 
it  is  afterwards  quite  useless  as  a  trophy. 

By  the  time  the  zebra  was  skinned,  darkness  was 
fast  approaching,  so  we  selected  a  suitable  tree  in 
which  to  pass  the  night.  Under  it  we  built  a 


158  THE  MAN-EATERS  OF  TSAVO          CHAP. 


goodly  fire,  made  some  tea,  and  roasted  a  couple 
of  quails  which  I  had  shot  early  in  the  day  and 
which  proved  simply  delicious.  We  then  betook 
ourselves  to  the  branches — at  least,  Mahina  and  I 
did ;  Moota  was  afraid  of  nothing,  and  said  he 
would  sleep  on  the  ground.  He  was  not  so  full  of 
courage  later  on,  however,  for  about  midnight  a 
great  rhino  passed  our  way,  winded  us  and  snorted 
so  loudly  that  Moota  scrambled  in  abject  terror  up 
our  tree.  He  was  as  nimble  as  a  monkey  for  all  his 
stoutness,  and  never  ceased  climbing  until  he  was 
far  above  us.  We  both  laughed  heartily  at  his 
extraordinary  haste  to  get  out  of  danger,  and 
Mahina  chaffed  him  unmercifully. 

The  rest  of  the  night  passed  without  incident, 
and  in  the  early  morning,  while  the  boys  were  pre- 
paring breakfast,  I  strolled  off  towards  the  rocky- 
hills  which  I  had  seen  from  Tsavo,  and  which  were 
now  only  about  half  a  mile  distant.  I  kept  a  sharp 
look-out  for  game,  but  came  across  nothing  save 
here  and  there  a  paa  and  a  few  guinea-fowl,  until, 
just  as  I  was  about  half-way  round  the  hill,  I  saw 
a  fine  leopard  lying  on  a  rocky  ledge  basking  in 
the  morning  sun.  But  he  was  too  quick  for  me, 
and  made  off  before  I  could  get  a  shot ;  I  had  not 
approached  noiselessly  enough,  and  a  leopard  is  too 
wary  a  beast  to  be  caught  napping.  Unfortunately 
I  had  no  more  time  at  my  disposal  in  which  to 


xiv         FINDING  THE  MAN-EATERS'  DEN         159 

explore  these  hills,  as  I  was  anxious  to  resume 
work  at  Tsavo  as  soon  as  possible ;  so  after 
breakfast  we  packed  up  the  zebra  skin  and 
began  to  retrace  our  steps  through  the  jungle. 
It  was  an  intensely  hot  day,  and  we  were  all 


•'WATCH   THE   ANIMALS   COME    DOWN   TO   DRINK." 

very  glad   when   at    length   we   reached   the   home 
camp. 

Most  of  my  little  trips  of  this  sort,  however,  were 
made  in  a  northerly  direction,  towards  the  ever- 
interesting  Athi  or  Sabaki  rivers.  After  a  long  and 
tiring  walk  through  the  jungle  what  a  pleasure  it 
was  to  lie  up  in  the  friendly  shelter  of  the  rushes 


160  THE  MAN-EATERS  OF  TSAVO          CHAP. 


which  line  the  banks,  and  watch  the  animals  come 
down  to  drink,  all  unconscious  of  my  presence.  I 
took  several  photographs  of  scenes  of  this  kind,  but 
unfortunately  many  of  the  negatives  were  spoiled. 
Often,  too,  on  a  brilliant  moonlight  night  have  I  sat 
on  a  rock  out  in  the  middle  of  the  stream,  near  a 
favourite  drinking  place,  waiting  for  a  shot  at  what- 
ever fortune  might  send  my  way.  How  exaspera- 
ting it  was,  when  the  wind  changed  at  the  critical 
moment,  and  gave  me  away  to  the  rhino  or  other 
animal  I  had  sat  there  for  hours  patiently  awaiting  ! 
Occasionally  I  would  get  heartily  tired  of  my  weary 
vigil  and  would  wade  ashore  through  the  warm 
water,  to  make  my  bed  in  the  soft  sand  regardless 
of  the  snap,  snap  of  the  crocodiles  which  could 
plainly  be  heard  from  the  deeper  pools  up  and  down 
the  river.  At  the  time,  being  new  to  the  country, 
I  did  not  realise  the  risks  I  ran  ;  but  later  on — after 
my  poor  Wa  Kamba  follower  had  been  seized  and 
dragged  under,  as  I  have  already  described — I 
learned  to  be  much  more  cautious. 

The  shortest  way  of  reaching  the  Athi  river  from 
Tsavo  was  to  strike  through  the  jungle  in  a  north- 
westerly direction,  and  here  there  was  luckily  a  par- 
ticularly well-defined  rhino  path  which  I  always 
made  use  of.  I  discovered  it  quite  by  accident  on 
one  occasion  when  I  had  asked  some  guests,  who 
were  staying  with  me  at  Tsavo,  to  spend  a  night  on 


xiv          FINDING  THE  MAN-EATERS'  DEN         161 

the  banks  of  the  river.  As  we  were  making  our  way 
slowly  and  painfully  through  the  dense  jungle,  I  came 
across  this  well-trodden  path,  which  appeared  to  lead 
in  the  direction  in  which  I  wished  to  go,  and  as  I 
felt  convinced  that  at  any  rate  it  would  bring  us  to 
the  river  somewhere,  I  followed  it  with  confidence. 
Our  progress  was  now  easy,  and  the  track  led 
through  fairly  open  glades  where  traces  of  bush- 
buck  and  water-buck  were  numerous  ;  indeed  once  or 
twice  we  caught  glimpses  of  these  animals  as  they 
bounded  away  to  the  shelter  of  the  thicket,  warned 
by  the  sound  of  our  approach.  In  the  end,  as  I 
anticipated,  the  old  rhino  path  proved  a  true  guide, 
for  it  struck  the  Athi  at  an  ideal  spot  for  a  camping 
ground,  where  some  lofty  trees  close  to  the  bank  of 
the  river  gave  a  most  grateful  and  refreshing  shade. 
We  had  a  delightful  picnic,  and  my  guests  greatly 
enjoyed  their  night  in  the  open,  although  one  of 
them  got  rather  a  bad  fright  from  a  rhino  which 
suddenly  snorted  close  to  our  camp,  evidently  very 
annoyed  at  our  intrusion  on  his  domain. 

In  the  morning  they  went  off  as  soon  as  it  was 
light  to  try  their  luck  along  the  river,  while  I 
remained  in  camp  to  see  to  breakfast.  After  an 
hour  or  more,  however,  they  all  returned,  empty- 
handed  but  very  hungry  ;  so  when  they  had  settled 
down  to  rest  after  a  hearty  meal,  I  thought  I 
would  sally  forth  and  see  if  I  could  not  meet 

M 


1 62  THE  MAN-EATERS  OF  TSAVO          CHAP. 

with  better  success.  I  had  gone  only  a  short 
distance  up  the  right  bank  of  the  river,  when  I 
thought  I  observed  a  movement  among  the  bushes 
ahead  of  me.  On  the  alert,  I  stopped  instantly,  and 
the  next  moment  was  rewarded  by  seeing  a  splendid 
bush-buck  advance  from  the  water  in  a  most  stately 
manner.  I  could  only  make  out  his  head  and  neck 
above  the  undergrowth,  but  as  he  was  only  some 
fifty  yards  off,  I  raised  my  rifle  to  my  shoulder  to 
fire.  This  movement  at  once  caught  his  eye,  and 
for  the  fraction  of  a  second  he  stopped  to  gaze  at 
me,  thus  giving  me  time  to  aim  at  where  I  supposed 
his  shoulder  to  be.  When  I  fired,  he  disappeared 
so  suddenly  and  so  completely  that  I  felt  sure  that  I 
had  missed  him,  and  that  he  had  made  off  through 
the  bush.  I  therefore  re-loaded,  and  advanced  care- 
fully with  the  intention  of  following  up  his  trail  ;  but 
to  my  unbounded  delight  I  came  upon  the  buck 
stretched  out  dead  in  his  tracks,  with  my  bullet 
through  his  heart.  I  lost  no  time  in  getting  back 
to  camp,  the  antelope  swinging  by  his  feet  from  a 
branch  borne  by  two  sturdy  coolies  :  and  my  unlucky 
friends  were  very  much  astonished  when  they  saw 
the  fine  bag  I  had  secured  in  so  short  a  time.  The 
animal  was  soon  skinned  and  furnished  us  with 
a  delicious  roast  for  lunch  ;  and  in  the  cool  of  the 
evening  we  made  our  way  back  to  Tsavo  without 
further  adventure. 


xiv         FINDING  THE  MAN-EATERS'  DEN         163 

Some  little  time  after  this,  while  one  of  these 
same  friends  (Mr.  C.  Rawson)  happened  to  be  again 
at  Tsavo,  we  were  sitting  after  dark  under  the 
verandah  of  my  hut.  I  wanted  something  from  my 
tent,  and  sent  Meeanh,  my  Indian  chaukidar,  to 
fetch  it.  He  was  going  off  in  the  dark  to  do  so, 


"THE  ANTELOPE  SWINGING  BY  HIS  FEET." 


when  I  called  him  back  and  told  him  to  take  a 
lantern  for  fear  of  snakes.  This  he  did,  and  as  soon 
as  he  got  to  the  door  of  the  tent,  which  was  only  a 
dozen  yards  off,  he  called  out  frantically,  "  Art, 
Sahib,  hurra  saiip  hai !  "  ("  Oh,  Master,  there  is  a 
big  snake  here !  ") 

"Where?"   I  shouted. 

M    2 


1 64  THE  MAN-EATERS  OF  TSAVO          CHAP. 


"  Here  by  the  bed,"  he  cried.      "  Bring  the   gun, 
quickly." 

I    seized    the    shot-gun,     which    I    always    kept 
handy,  and  rushed  to  the  tent,  where,  by  the  light 
of  the  lantern,  I  saw  a  great  red  snake,  about  seven 
feet  long,  gazing  at  me  from  the  side  of  my  camp- 
bed.      I  instantly  fired  at  him,  cutting  him  clean  in 
half  with  the  shot ;   the  tail  part  remained  where  it 
was,    but  the   head   half  quickly   wriggled   off  and 
disappeared  in  the  gloom  of  the  tent.     The  trail  of 
blood,    however,    enabled    us    to    track    it,  and    we 
eventually  found  the  snake,  still  full  of  fight,   under 
the   edge  of  the    ground-sheet.      He    made    a   last 
vicious  dart  at  one  of  the  men  who  had  run  up,  but 
was  quickly  given  the  happy  despatch  by  a  blow  on 
the  head.      Rawson  now  picked  it  up  and  brought 
it  to  the  light.      He  then  put  his  foot  on  the  back 
of  its  head  and  with  a  stick  forced  open  the  jaws, 
when  suddenly  we  saw  two  perfectly  clear  jets  of 
poison  spurt  out  from  the  fangs.     An  Indian  baboo 
(clerk),  who  happened  to  be  standing  near,  got  the 
full  benefit  of  this,  and  the  poor  man  was  so  panic- 
stricken  that  in  a  second  he  had  torn  off  every  atom 
of  his  clothing.      We  were  very  much   amused  at 
this,  as  of  course  we  knew  that  although  the  poison 
was  exceedingly  venomous,   it  could    do    no    harm 
unless   it  penetrated  a  cut  or  open   wound  in   the 
flesh.      I  never  found  out  the  name  of  this  snake, 


XIV 


FINDING  THE  MAN-EATERS'  DEN 


165 


which,  as  I  have  said,  was  of  a  dark  brick-red 
colour  all  over ;  and  I  only  saw  one  other  of  the 
same  kind  all  the  time  I  was  in  East  Africa.  I 
came  upon  it  suddenly  one  day  when  out  shooting. 
It  was  evidently  much  startled,  and  stood  erect, 
hissing  venomously  ;  but  I  also  was  so  much  taken 
aback  at  its  appearance  that  I  did  not  think  about 
shooting  it  until  it  had  glided  off  and  disappeared  in 
the  thick  undergrowth. 


HI  Pro  HKAl). 


CHAPTER   XV 

UNSUCCESSFUL    RHINO    HUNTS 

ALTHOUGH  the  jungle  round  Tsavo  was  a  network 
of  rhino  paths  I  had  never  so  far  been  successful 
in  my  efforts  to  obtain  one  of  these  animals,  nor 
was  my  ambition  yet  to  be  realised.  One  day 
I  was  out  exploring  in  the  dense  bush  some  six 
or  seven  miles  away  from  camp,  and  found  my 
progress  more  than  usually  slow,  owing  to  the 
fact  that  I  had  to  spend  most  of  my  time  crawling 
on  all-fours  through  the  jungle.  I  was  very  pleased, 
therefore,  to  emerge  suddenly  on  a  broad  and  well- 
beaten  track  along  which  I  could  walk  comfortably 
in  an  upright  position.  In  this  were  some  fresh 
rhino  footprints  which  seemed  barely  an  hour  old, 
so  I  determined  to  follow  them  up.  The  roadway 
was  beaten  in  places  into  a  fine  white  dust  by  the 
passage  of  many  heavy  animals  ;  and  as  I  pushed 
cautiously  forward  I  fully  expected  to  come  face  to 
face  with  a  rhino  at  every  corner  I  turned.  After 


CH.  xv        UNSUCCESSFUL  RHINO  HUNTS  167 

having  gone  a  little  way  I  fancied  that  I  really  did 
see  one  lying  at  the  foot  of  a  tree  some  distance 
ahead  of  me,  but  on  approaching  cautiously  found 
that  it  was  nothing  more  than  a  great  brown  heap 
of  loose  earth  which  one  of  the  huge  beasts  had 
raised  by  rolling  about  on  the  soft  ground.  This, 
however,  was  evidently  a  resting-place  which  was 
regularly  used,  so  I  made  up  my  mind  to  spend 
a  night  in  the  overhanging  branches  of  the  tree. 

The  next  afternoon,  accordingly,  Mahina  and  I 
made  our  way  back  to  the  place,  and  by  dusk 
we  were  safely  but  uncomfortably  perched  among 
the  branches  directly  over  the  path.  We  had 
scarcely  been  there  an  hour  when  to  our  delight 
we  heard  a  great  rhino  plodding  along  the  track 
in  our  direction.  Unfortunately  the  moon  had  not 
yet  risen,  so  I  was  unable  to  catch  sight  of  the 
monster  as  he  approached  ;  I  knew,  however,  that 
there  was  light  enough  for  me  to  see  him  when  he 
emerged  from  the  bushes  into  the  little  clearing 
round  the  foot  of  our  tree.  Nearer  and  nearer  we 
heard  him  coming  steadily  on,  and  I  had  my  rifle 
ready,  pointing  it  in  the  direction  in  which  I 
expected  his  head  to  appear.  But,  alas,  just  at  that 
moment  the  wind  veered  round  and  blew  straight 
from  us  towards  the  rhino,  who  scented  us  immedi- 
ately, gave  a  mighty  snort  and  then  dived  madly 
away  through  the  jungle.  For  some  considerable 


i68  THE  MAN-EATERS  OF  TSAVO          CHAP. 

time  we  could  hear  him  crashing  ponderously 
through  everything  that  came  in  his  way,  and  he 
must  have  gone  a  long  distance  before  he  recovered 
from  his  fright  and  slowed  down  to  his  usual  pace. 
At  any  rate  we  neither  heard  nor  saw  anything 
more  of  him,  and  spent  a  wakeful  and  uncomfort- 
able night  for  nothing. 

My  next  attempt  to  bag  a  rhino  took  place  some 
months  later,  on  the  banks  of  the  Sabaki,  and  was 
scarcely  more  successful.  I  had  come  down  from 
Tsavo  in  the  afternoon,  accompanied  by  Mahina, 
and  finding  a  likely  tree,  within  a  few  yards  of  the 
river  and  with  fresh  footprints  under  it,  I  at  once 
decided  to  take  up  my  position  for  the  night  in  its 
branches.  Mahina  preferred  to  sit  where  he  could 
take  a  comfortable  nap,  and  wedged  himself  in  a 
fork  of  the  tree  some  little  way  below  me,  but  still 
some  eight  or  ten  feet  from  the  ground.  It  was  a 
calm  and  perfect  night,  such  as  can  be  seen  only 
in  the  tropics  ;  everything  looked  mysteriously 
beautiful  in  the  glorious  moonlight,  and  stood  out 
like  a  picture  looked  at  through  a  stereoscope. 
From  my  perch  among  the  branches  I  watched 
first  a  water-buck  come  to  drink  in  the  river  ;  then 
a  bush-buck  ;  later,  a  tiny  paa  emerged  from  the 
bushes  and  paused  at  every  step  with  one  graceful 
forefoot  poised  in  the  air — thoroughly  on  the  alert 
and  looking  round  carefully  and  nervously  for  any 


xv  UNSUCCESSFUL  RHINO  HUNTS  169 

trace  of  a  possible  enemy.  At  length  it  reached  the 
brink  of  the  river  in  safety,  and  stooped  to  drink. 
Just  then  I  saw  a  jackal  come  up  on  its  trail  and 
begin  carefully  to  stalk  it,  not  even  rustling  a  fallen 
leaf  in  its  stealthy  advance  on  the  poor  little 
antelope.  All  of  a  sudden,  however,  the  jackal 
stopped  dead  for  a  second,  and  then  made  off  out  of 
sight  as  fast  as  ever  he  could  go.  I  looked  round 
to  discover  the  cause  of  this  hurried  exit,  and  to  my 
surprise  saw  a  large  and  very  beautiful  leopard 
crouching  down  and  moving  noiselessly  in  the 
direction  of  our  tree.  At  first  I  thought  it  must  be 
stalking  some  animal  on  the  ground  below  us,  but  I 
soon  realised  that  it  was  Mahina  that  the  brute  was 
intent  on.  Whether,  if  left  to  himself,  the  leopard 
would  actually  have  made  a  spring  at  my  sleeping 
gun-bearer,  I  do  not  know  ;  but  I  had  no  intention 
of  letting  him  have  a  chance  of  even  attempting  this, 
so  I  cautiously  raised  my  rifle  and  levelled  it  at  him. 
Absolutely  noiseless  as  I  was  in  doing  this,  he 
noticed  it — possibly  a  glint  of  moonlight  on  the 
barrel  caught  his  eye — and  immediately  disappeared 
into  the  bush  before  I  could  get  in  a  shot.  I  at  once 
woke  Mahina  and  made  him  come  up  to  more 
secure  quarters  beside  me. 

For  a  long  time  after  this  nothing  disturbed  our 
peace,  but  at  last  the  quarry  I  had  hoped  for  made 
his  appearance  on  the  scene.  Just  below  us  there 


1 7o  THE  MAN-EATERS  OF  TSAVO          CHAP. 

was  an  opening  in  the  elephant  grass  which  lined 
the  river's  edge,  and  through  this  the  broad  stream 
shone  like  silver  in  the  moonlight.  Without  warning 
this  gap  was  suddenly  filled  by  a  huge  black  mass— 
a  rhino  making  his  way,  very  leisurely,  out  of  the 
shallow  water.  On  he  came  with  a  slow,  ponderous 
tread,  combining  a  certain  stateliness  with  his 
awkward  strides.  Almost  directly  beneath  us  he 
halted  and  stood  for  an  instant  clearly  exposed  to 
our  view.  This  was  my  opportunity  ;  I  took  care- 
ful aim  at  his  shoulder  and  fired.  Instantly,  and 
with  extraordinary  rapidity,  the  huge  beast  whirled 
round  like  a  peg-top,  whereupon  I  fired  again.  This 
time  I  expected  him  to  fall  ;  but  instead  of  that 
I  had  the  mortification  of  seeing  him  rush  off  into 
the  jungle  and  of  hearing  him  crash  through  it  like 
a  great  steam-roller  for  several  minutes.  I  consoled 
myself  by  thinking  that  he  could  not  go  far,  as  he 
was  hard  hit,  and  that  I  should  easily  find  him  when 
daylight  arrived.  Mahina,  who  was  in  a  wild  state 
of  excitement  over  the  burra  janwar  (great  animal), 
was  also  of  this  opinion,  and  as  there  was  no  longer 
any  reason  for  silence,  he  chatted  to  me  about  many 
strange  and  curious  things  until  the  grey  dawn 
appeared.  When  we  got  down  from  our  perch,  we 
found  the  track  of  the  wounded  rhino  clearly 
marked  by  great  splashes  of  blood,  and  for  a  couple. 
of  miles  the  spoor  could  thus  be  easily  followed. 


xv  UNSUCCESSFUL  RHINO  HUNTS  171 

At  length,  however,  it  got  fainter  and  fainter,  and 
finally  ceased  altogether,  so  that  we  had  to  abandon 
the  search  ;  the  ground  round  about  was  rocky,  and 
there  was  no  possibility  of  telling  which  way  our 
quarry  had  gone.  I  was  exceedingly  sorry  for  this, 
as  I  did  not  like  to  leave  him  wounded  ;  but  there 
was  no  help  for  it,  so  we  struck  out  for  home  and 
arrived  at  Tsavo  in  the  afternoon  very  tired,  hungry 
and  disappointed. 

Rhinos  are  extraordinary  animals,  and  not  in 
any  way  to  be  depended  upon.  One  day  they 
will  sheer  off  on  meeting  a  human  being  and  make 
no  attempt  to  attack  ;  the  next  day,  for  no  apparent 
reason,  they  may  execute  a  most  determined  charge. 
I  was  told  for  a  fact  by  an  official  who  had  been 
long  in  the  country  that  on  one  occasion  while  a  gang 
of  twenty-one  slaves,  chained  neck  to  neck  as  was 
the  custom,  was  being  smuggled  down  to  the  coast 
and  was  proceeding  in  Indian  file  along  a  narrow 
path,  a  rhinoceros  suddenly  charged  out  at  right 
angles  to  them,  impaled  the  centre  man  on  its 
horns  and  broke  the  necks  of  the  remainder  of  the 
party  by  the  suddenness  of  his  rush.  These  huge 
beasts  have  a  very  keen  sense  of  smell,  but  equally 
indifferent  eyesight,  and  it  is  said  that  if  a  hunter 
will  only  stand  perfectly  still  on  meeting  a  rhino, 
it  will  pass  him  by  without  attempting  to  molest 
him.  I  feel  bound  to  add,  however,  that  I  have 


172 


THE  MAN-EATERS  OF  TSAVO 


CHAP. 


so  far  failed  to  come  across  anybody  who  has 
actually  tried  the  experiment.  On  the  other  hand, 
I  have  met  one  or  two  men  who  have  been  tossed 
on  the  horns  of  these  animals,  and  they  described 
it  as  a  very  painful  proceeding.  It  generally  means 
being  a  cripple  for  life,  if  one  even  succeeds  in 


"SLAVES  CHAINED  NECK  TO  NECK  AS  WAS  THE  CUSTOM." 

escaping  death.  Mr.  B.  Eastwood,  the  chief 
accountant  of  the  Uganda  Railway,  once  gave  me 
a  graphic  description  of  his  marvellous  escape  from 
an  infuriated  rhino.  He  was  on  leave  at  the  time 
on  a  hunting  expedition  in  the  neighbourhood  of 
Lake  Baringo,  about  eighty  miles  north  of  the 
railway  from  Nakuru,  and  had  shot  and  apparently 


xv  UNSUCCESSFUL  RHINO  HUNTS  173 

killed  a  rhino.  On  walking  up  to  it,  however, 
the  brute  rose  to  its  feet  and  literally  fell  on  him, 
breaking  four  ribs  and  his  right  arm.  Not  content 
with  this,  it  then  stuck  its  horn  through  his  thigh 
and  tossed  him  over  its  back,  repeating  this  operation 
once  or  twice.  Finally,  it  lumbered  off,  leaving 
poor  Eastwood  helpless  and  fainting  in  the  long  grass 
where  he  had  fallen.  He  was  alone  at  the  time, 
and  it  was  not  for  some  hours  that  he  was  found 
by  his  porters,  who  were  only  attracted  to  the  spot 
by  the  numbers  of  vultures  hovering  about,  waiting 
in  their  ghoulish  manner  for  life  to  be  extinct 
before  beginning  their  meal.  How  he  managed 
to  live  for  the  eight  days  after  this  which  elapsed 
before  a  doctor  could  be  got  to  him  I  cannot 
imagine ;  but  in  the  end  he  fortunately  made  a 
good  recovery,  the  only  sign  of  his  terrible 
experience  being  the  absence  of  his  right  arm, 
which  had  to  be  amputated. 


CHAPTER    XVI 

A    WIDOW'S    STORY 

VERY  shortly  before  I  left  Tsavo  I  went  (on 
March  11,  1899)  on  inspection  duty  to  Voi,  which, 
as  I  have  already  mentioned,  is  about  thirty  miles 
on  the  Mombasa  side  of  Tsavo.  At  this  time  it 
was  a  miserable,  swampy  spot,  where  fever,  guinea- 
worm,  and  all  kinds  of  horrible  diseases  were 
rampant ;  but  this  state  of  affairs  has  now  been 
completely  altered  by  drainage  and  by  clearing 
away  the  jungle.  Dr.  Rose  was  in  medical  charge 
of  the  place  at  the  time  of  my  visit,  and  as  it  was 
the  good  old  custom  to  put  up  with  any  friend  one 
came  across  towards  nightfall,  I  made  him  my  host 
when  my  day's  work  was  over.  We  spent  a  very 
pleasant  evening  together,  and  naturally  discussed 
all  the  local  news.  Amongst  other  things  we 
chatted  about  the  new  road  which  was  being  con- 
structed from  Voi  to  a  rather  important  missionary 
station  called  Taveta,  near  Mount  Kilima  N'jaro, 


CH.  xvi  A  WIDOW'S  STORY  175 

and  Dr.  Rose  mentioned  that  Mr.  O'Hara  (the 
engineer  in  charge  of  the  road-making),  with  his 
wife  and  children,  was  encamped  in  the  Wa  Taita 
country,  about  twelve  miles  away  from  Voi. 

Early  next  morning  I  went  out  for  a  stroll  with 
my  shot-gun,  but  had  not  gone  far  from  the  doctor's 
tent  when  I  saw  in  the  distance  four  Swahili  carrying 
something  which  looked  like  a  stretcher  along  the 
newly-made  road.  Fearing  that  some  accident  had 
happened,  I  went  quickly  to  meet  them  and  called 
out  to  ask  what  they  were  carrying.  They  shouted 
back  "  Bwana  "  ("  The  master  ") ;  and  when  I  asked 
what  bwana,  they  replied  "Bwana  O'Hara."  On 
enquiring  what  exactly  had  happened,  they  told  me 
that  during  the  night  their  master  had  been  killed 
by  a  lion,  and  that  his  wife  and  children  were 
following  behind  along  the  road.  At  this  I  directed 
the  men  to  the  hospital  and  told  them  where  to  find 
Dr.  Rose,  and  without  waiting  to  hear  any  further 
particulars  hurried  on  as  fast  as  possible  to  give 
what  assistance  I  could  to  poor  Mrs.  O'Hara. 
Some  considerable  way  back  I  met  her  toiling 
alone  with  an  infant  in  her  arms,  while  a  little 

o 

child  held  on  to  her  skirt,  utterly  tired  out  with  the 
long  walk.  I  helped  her  to  finish  the  distance  to 
the  doctor's  tent  ;  she  was  so  unstrung  by  her  terrible 
night's  experience  and  so  exhausted  by  her  trying 
march  carrying  the  baby  that  she  was  scarcely  able 


176  THE  MAN-EATERS  OF  TSAVO          CHAP. 


to  speak.  Dr.  Rose  at  once  did  all  he  could  both 
for  her  and  for  the  children,  the  mother  being- 
given  a  sleeping  draught  and  made  comfortable 
in  one  of  the  tents.  When  she  appeared  again 
late  in  the  afternoon  she  was  much  refreshed,  and 
was  able  to  tell  us  the  following  dreadful  story, 


HOSPITAL   TENT    AT    VOI    WHERE    MRS.    o'HARA    RESTED. 

which  I  shall  give  as  nearly  as  possible  in  her  own 
words. 

"  We  were  all  asleep  in  the  tent,  my  husband 
and  I  in  one  bed  and  my  two  children  in 
another.  The  baby  was  feverish  and  restless,  so 
I  got  up  to  give  her  something  to  drink  ;  and 
as  I  was  doing  so,  I  heard  what  I  thought  was 
a  lion  walking  round  the  tent.  I  at  once  woke 


xvi  A  WIDOW'S  STORY  177 


my  husband  and  told  him  I  felt  sure  there  was 
a  lion  about.  He  jumped  up  and  went  out, 
taking  his  gun  with  him.  He  looked  round  the 
outside  of  the  tent,  and  spoke  to  the  Swahili 
askari  who  was  on  sentry  by  the  camp  fire  a  little 
distance  off.  The  askari  said  he  had  seen  nothing 
about  except  a  donkey,  so  my  husband  came  in 
again,  telling  me  not  to  worry  as  it  was  only  a 
donkey  that  I  had  heard. 

"  The  night  being  very  hot,  my  husband  threw 
back  the  tent  door  and  lay  down  again  beside 
me.  After  a  while  I  dozed  off,  but  was  sud- 
denly roused  by  a  feeling  as  if  the  pillow  were 
being  pulled  away  from  under  my  head.  On 
looking  round  I  found  that  my  husband  was 
gone.  I  jumped  up  and  called  him  loudly,  but 
got  no  answer.  Just  then  I  heard  a  noise  among 
the  boxes  outside  the  door,  so  I  rushed  out  and 
saw  my  poor  husband  lying  between  the  boxes. 
I  ran  up  to  him  and  tried  to  lift  him,  but  found 
I  could  not  do  so.  I  then  called  to  the  askari 
to  come  and  help  me,  but  he  refused,  saying 
that  there  was  a  lion  standing  beside  me.  I 
looked  up  and  saw  the  huge  beast  glowering  at 
me,  not  more  than  two  yards  away.  At  this 
moment  the  askari  fired  his  rifle,  and  this  fortun- 
ately frightened  the  lion,  for  it  at  once  jumped  off 
into  the  bush. 

N 


178  THE  MAN-EATERS  OF  TSAVO          CHAP. 

•''All  four  askaris  then  came  forward  and  lifted 
my  husband  back  on  to  the  bed.  He  was  quite 
dead.  We  had  hardly  got  back  into  the  tent  before 
the  lion  returned  and  prowled  about  in  front  of  the 
door,  showing  every  intention  of  springing  in  to 
recover  his  prey.  The  askaris  fired  at  him,  but  did 
no  damage  beyond  frightening  him  away  again  for 
a  moment  or  two.  He  soon  came  back  and  con- 
tinued to  walk  round  the  tent  until  daylight,  growl- 
ing and  purring,  and  it  was  only  by  firing 
through  the  tent  every  now  and  then  that  we  kept 
him  out.  At  daybreak  he  disappeared  and  I  had 
my  husband's  body  carried  here,  while  I  followed 
with  the  children  until  I  met  you." 

Such  was  Mrs.  O'Hara's  pitiful  story.  The 
only  comfort  we  could  give  her  was  to  assure  her 
that  her  husband  had  died  instantly  and  without 
pain  ;  for  while  she  had  been  resting  Dr.  Rose  had 
made  a  post-mortem  examination  of  the  body  and 
had  come  to  this  conclusion.  He  found  that 
O'Hara  had  evidently  been  lying  on  his  back  at 
the  time,  and  that  the  lion,  seizing  his  head  in  its 
mouth,  had  closed  its  long  tusks  through  his  temples 
until  they  met  again  in  the  brain.  We  buried  him 
before  nightfall  in  a  peaceful  spot  close  by,  the 
doctor  reading  the  funeral  service,  while  I  assisted 
in  lowering  the  rude  coffin  into  the  grave.  It  was 
the  saddest  scene  imaginable.  The  weeping  widow, 


XVI 


A  WIDOW'S  STORY 


'79 


the  wondering  faces  of  the  children,  the  gathering 
gloom  of  the  closing  evening,  the  dusky  forms  of  a 
few  natives  who  had  gathered  round — all  combined 
to  make  a  most  striking  and  solemn  ending  to  a 
very  terrible  tragedy  of  real  life. 

I  am  glad  to  say  that  within  a  few  weeks'  time 
the  lion  that  was  responsible  for  this  tragedy  was 
killed  by  a  poisoned  arrow,  shot  from  a  tree  top  by 
one  of  the  Wa  Taita. 


_~ 


IN  THE    BAZAAR    AT    KAMPALA. 


N    2 


"THE   GREAT   ATHI    PLAINS." 


CHAPTER  XVII 

AN    INFURIATED    RHINO 

MY  work  at  Tsavo  was  finished  in  March,  1899, 
when  I  received  instructions  to  proceed  to  railhead 
and  take  charge  of  a  section  of  the  work  there. 
For  many  reasons  I  was  sorry  to  say  good-bye  to 
Tsavo,  where  I  had  spent  an  eventful  year  ;  but  all 
the  same  I  was  very  glad  to  be  given  this  new  post, 
as  I  knew  that  there  would  be  a  great  deal  of  inter- 
esting work  to  be  done  and  a  constant  change  of 
camp  and  scene,  as  the  line  progressed  onward  to 
the  interior.  In  good  spirits,  therefore,  I  set  out 
for  my  new  headquarters  on  March  28.  By  this 
time  railhead  had  reached  a  place  called  Machakos 
Road,  some  two  hundred  and  seventy-six  miles 
from  Mombasa  and  within  a  few  miles  of  the 
great  Athi  Plains,  the  latter  being  treeless  and 


CH.    xvn  AN  INFURIATED  RHINO  181 

waterless  expanses,  bare  of  everything  except  grass, 
which  the  great  herds  of  game  keep  closely 
cropped.  After  leaving  Tsavo,  the  character  of  the 
country  remains  unaltered  for  some  considerable 
distance,  the  line  continuing  to  run  through  the 
thorny  nyika,  and  it  is  not  until  Makindu  is  reached 
—about  two  hundred  miles  from  the  coast — that  a 
change  is  apparent.  From  this  place,  however,  the 
journey  lies  through  a  fairly  open  and  interesting 
tract  of  country,  where  game  of  all  kinds  abounds 
and  can  be  seen  grazing  peacefully  within  a  few 
hundred  yards  of  the  railway.  On  the  way  I  was 
lucky  enough  to  get  some  fine  views  of  Kilima  N'jaro, 
the  whole  mountain  from  base  to  summit  standing 
out  clearly  and  grandly,  with  the  lofty  peak  of  Kibo 
topping  the  fleecy  clouds  with  its  snowy  head. 

At  Machakos  Road  I  found  the  country  and  the 
climate  very  different  from  that  to  which.  I  had 
grown  accustomed  at  Tsavo.  Here  I  could  see  for 
miles  across  stretches  of  beautiful,  open  downs, 
timbered  here  and  there  like  an  English  park  ;  and 
it  was  a  great  relief  to  be  able  to  overlook  a  wide 
tract  of  country  and  to  feel  that  I  was  no  longer 
hemmed  in  on'  all  sides  by  the  interminable  and 
depressing  thorny  wilderness.  As  Machakos  Road 
is  some  four  thousand  feet  higher  above  the  sea 
level  than  Tsavo,  the  difference  in  temperature  was 
also  very  marked,  and  the  air  felt  fresh  and  cool 


182 


THE  MAN-EATERS  OF  TSAVO 


CHAP. 


compared  with  that  of  the  sun-baked  valley  in  which 
I  had  spent  the  previous  year. 

My  instructions  were  to  hurry  on  the  construc- 
tion of  the  line  as  fast  as  possible  to  Nairobi,  the 
proposed  headquarters  of  the  Railway  Administra- 


"  FIRST   THE   EARTH   SURFACE    HAS   TO   BE    PREPARED." 

tion,  which  lay  about  fifty  miles  further  on  across 
the  Athi  Plains  ;  and  I  soon  began  to  find  plate- 
laying  most  interesting  work.  Everything  has  to 
move  as  if  by  clockwork.  First  the  earth  surface 
has  to  be  prepared  and  rendered  perfectly  smooth 
and  level ;  cuttings  have  to  be  made  and  hollows 
banked  up  ;  tunnels  have  to  be  bored  through  hills 


XVII 


AN  INFURIATED  RHINO 


183 


1 84  THE  MAN-EATERS  OF  TSAVO          CHAP. 

and  bridges  thrown  across  rivers.  Then  a  line  of 
coolies  moves  along,  placing  sleepers  at  regular 
intervals ;  another  gang  drops  the  rails  in  their 
places  ;  yet  another  brings  along  the  keys,  fishplates, 
bolts  and  nuts  ;  while  following  these  are  the  men 
who  actually  fix  the  rails  on  the  sleepers  and  link  up 
from  one  to  another.  Finally,  the  packing  gang 
finishes  the  work  by  filling  in  earth  and  ballast  under 
and  around  the  steel  sleepers  to  give  them  the 
necessary  grip  and  rigidity.  Some  days  we  were 
able  lo  lay  only  a  few  yards,  while  on  other  days  we 
might  do  over  a  mile  ;  all  depended  on  the  nature 
of  the  country  we  had  to  cover.  On  one  occasion 
we  succeeded  in  breaking  the  record  for  a  day's 
platelaying,  and  were  gratified  at  receiving  a 
telegram  of  congratulation  from  the  Railway  Com- 
mittee at  the  Foreign  Office. 

I  made  it  my  custom  to  take  a  walk  each  morning 
for  some  distance  ahead  of  rails  along  the  centre- 
line of  the  railway,  in  order  to  spy  out  the  land  and 
to  form  a  rough  estimate  of  the  material  that  would 
be  required  in  the  way  of  sleepers,  girders  for 
temporary  bridges,  etc.  It  was  necessary  to  do  this 
in  order  to  avoid  undue  delay  taking  place  owing  to 
shortage  of  material  of  any  kind.  About  ten  days 
after  my  arrival  at  Machakos  Road  I  walked  in  this 
way  for  five  or  six  miles  ahead  of  the  last-laid  rail. 
It  was  rather  unusual  for  me  to  go  so  far,  and,  as  it 


XVII 


AN  INFURIATED  RHINO 


185 


happened,  I  was  alone  on  this  occasion,  Mahina 
having  been  left  behind  in  camp.  About  two  miles 
away  on  my  left,  I  noticed  a  dark-looking  object, 
and  thinking  it  was  an  ostrich  I  started  off  towards 
it.  Very  soon,  however,  I  found  that  it  was  bigger 
game  than  an  ostrich,  and  on  getting  still  nearer 


"ANOTHER  GANG  DROPS  THE  RAILS  IN  THEIR  PLACES." 

made  out  the  form  of  a  great  rhinoceros  lying  down. 
I  continued  to  advance  very  cautiously,  wriggling 
through  the  short  grass  until  at  length  I  got  within 
fifty  yards  of  where  the  huge  beast  was  resting. 
Here  I  lay  and  watched  him  ;  but  after  some  little 
time  he  evidently  suspected  my  presence,  for  rising 
to  his  feet,  he  looked  straight  in  my  direction  and 


1 86  THE  MAN-EATERS  OF  TSAVO          CHAP. 

then  proceeded  to  walk  round  me  in  a  half-circle. 
The  moment  he  got  wind  of  me,  he  whipped  round 
in  his  tracks  like  a  cat  and  came  for  me  in  a  bee- 
line.  Hoping  to  turn  him,  I  fired  instantly  ;  but 
unfortunately  my  soft-nosed  bullets  merely  annoyed 
him  further,  and  had  not  the  slightest  effect  on  his 
thick  hide.  On  seeing  this,  I  flung  myself  down 
quite  flat  on  the  grass  and  threw  my  helmet  some 
ten  feet  away  in  the  hope  that  he  would  perceive  it 
and  vent  his  rage  on  it  instead  of  me.  On  he 
thundered,  while  I  scarcely  dared  to  breathe.  I 
could  hear  him  snorting  and  rooting  up  the  grass 
quite  close  to  me,  but  luckily  for  me  he  did  not 
catch  sight  of  me  and  charged  by  a  few  yards  to  my 
left. 

As  soon  as  he  had  passed  me,  my  courage 
began  to  revive  again,  and  I  could  not  resist  the 
temptation  of  sending  a  couple  of  bullets  after  him. 
These,  however,  simply  cracked  against  his  hide 
and  splintered  to  pieces  on  it,  sending  the  dry  mud 
off  in  little  clouds  of  dust.  Their  only  real  effect, 
indeed,  was  to  make  him  still  more  angry.  He  stood 
stock-still  for  a  moment,  and  then  gored  the  ground 
most  viciously  and  started  off  once  more  on  the 
semi-circle  round  me.  This  proceeding  terrified  me 
more  than  ever,  as  I  felt  sure  that  he  would  come 
up-wind  at  me  again,  and  I  could  scarcely  hope  to 
escape  a  second  time.  Unfortunately,  my  surmise 


xvn  AN  INFURIATED  RHINO  187 

proved  correct,  for  directly  he  scented  me,  up  went 
his  nose  in  the  air  and  down  he  charged  like  a 
battering-ram.  I  fairly  pressed  myself  into  the 
ground,  as  flat  as  ever  I  could,  and  luckily  the  grass 
was  a  few  inches  high.  I  felt  the  thud  of  his  great 
feet  pounding  along,  yet  dared  not  move  or  look  up 
lest  he  should  see  me.  My  heart  was  thumping  like 
a  steam  hammer,  and  every  moment  I  fully  expected 
to  find  myself  tossed  into  the  air.  Nearer  and 
nearer  came  the  heavy  thudding,  and  I  had  quite 
given  myself  up  for  lost,  when  from  my  lying 
position  I  caught  sight,  out  of  the  corner  of  my  eye, 
of  the  infuriated  beast  rushing  by.  He  had  missed 
me  again  !  I  never  felt  so  relieved  in  my  life,  and 
assuredly  did  not  attempt  to  annoy  him  further. 
He  went  off  for  good  this  time,  and  it  was  with 
great  satisfaction  that  I  watched  him  gradually  dis- 
appear in  the  distance.  I  could  not  have  believed 
it  possible  that  these  huge,  ungainly-looking  brutes 
could  move  so  rapidly,  and  turn  and  twist  in  their 
tracks  just  like  monkeys,  had  I  not  actually  seen 
this  one  do  so  before  my  eyes.  I  f  he  had  found  me  he 
would  certainly  have  pounded  me  to  atoms,  as  he  was 
an  old  bull  and  in  a  most  furious  and  vicious  mood. 
One  day  when  Dr.  Brock  and  I  were  out  shoot- 
ing, shortly  after  this  incident  and  not  far  from 
where  it  occurred,  we  caught  sight  of  two  rhinos 
in  a  hollow  some  little  distance  from  us,  and 


i88 


THE  MAN-EATERS  OF  TSAVO 


CHAP. 


commenced  to  stalk  them,  taking  advantage  of  every 
fold  of  the  ground  in  doing  so  and  keeping  about 
fifty  yards  apart  in  case  of  a  charge.  In  that  event 
one  or  other  of  us  would  be  able  to  get  in  a  broad- 
side shot,  which  would  probably  roll  the  beast  over. 
Proceeding  carefully  in  this  manner,  we  managed  to 


IT    NEVER    MOVED    AGAIN. ' 


get  within  about  sixty  yards  of  them,  and  as  it  was 
my  turn  for  a  shot,  I  took  aim  at  the  larger  of  the 
two,  just  as  it  was  moving  its  great  head  from  one 
side  to  the  other,  wondering  which  of  us  it  ought  to 
attack.  When  at  last  it  decided  upon  Brock,  it 
gave  me  the  chance  I  had  been  waiting  for.  I  fired 
instantly  at  the  hollow  between  neck  and  shoulder ; 
the  brute  dropped  at  once,  and  save  for  one  or  two 


XVII 


AN  INFURIATED  RHINO 


convulsive  kicks  of  its  stumpy  legs  as  it  lay  half  on 
its  back,  it  never  moved  again.  The  second  rhino 
proved  to  be  a  well-grown  youngster  which  showed 
considerable  fight  as  we  attempted  to  approach  its 
fallen  comrade.  We  did  not  want  to  kill  it,  and 
accordingly  spent  about  two  hours  in  shouting  and 
throwing  stones  at  it  before  at  last  we  succeeded  in 
driving  it  away.  We  then  proceeded  to  skin  our 
prize  ;  this,  as  may  be  imagined,  proved  rather  a 
tough  job,  but  we  managed  it  in  the  end,  and  the 
trophy  was  well  wrorth  the  pains  I  had  taken  to  add 
it  to  my  collection. 


'THE  TKOI'HV    WAS  WELL   WORTH    THE    PAINS    I    HAD  TAKEX 
TO   ADD   IT  TO   MY   COLLECTION." 


CHAPTER   XVIII 

LIONS    ON    THE    ATHI    PLAINS 

SHORTLY  after  I  took  charge  at  railhead  we  entered 
the  Kapiti  Plain,  which  gradually  merges  into  the 
Athi  Plain,  and,  indeed,  is  hardly  to  be  distinguished 
from  the  latter  in  the  appearance  or  general  charac- 
ter of  the  country.  Together  they  form  a  great 
tract  of  rolling  downs  covered  with  grass,  and  inter- 
sected here  and  there  by  dry  ravines,  along  the 
baked  banks  of  which  a  few  stunted  trees — the  only 
ones  to  be  seen — struggle  to  keep  themselves  alive. 
In  all  this  expanse  there  is  absolutely  no  water  in 
the  dry  season,  except  in  the  Athi  River  (some  forty 
miles  away)  and  in  a  few  water-holes  known  only  to 
the  wild  animals.  The  great  feature  of  the  un- 
dulating plains,  however,  and  the  one  which  gives 
them  a  never-failing  interest,  is  the  great  abundance 
of  game  of  almost  every  conceivable  kind.  Here 
I  myself  have  seen  lion,  rhinoceros,  leopard,  eland, 
giraffe,  zebra,  wildebeeste,  hartebeeste,  waterbuck, 


CH.  xvni      LIONS  ON  THE  ATHI  PLAINS 


191 


wart-hog,  Grant!,  Thomsoni,  impala,  besides 
ostriches,  greater  and  lesser  bustard,  marabout,  and 
a  host  of  other  animals  and  birds  too  numerous  to 
name  ;  while  along  the  Athi  and  close  to  its  banks 
may  be  found  large  numbers  of  hippo  and  crocodiles. 
At  the  time  I  was  there,  these  great  plains  also 


JACKSON  S   HARTEBEESTE,    AND  ZEBRA. 

formed  the  principal  grazing  ground  for  the  immense 
herds  of  cattle  owned  by  the  Masai.  I  am  very 
glad  to  say  that  the  whole  of  this  country  on  the 
south  side  of  the  railway  as  far  as  the  boundary  of 
German  East  Africa,  from  the  Tsavo  River  on  the 
east  to  the  Kedong  Valley  on  the  west,  is  now  a 
strictly  protected  Game  Reserve  ;  and  so  long  as 
this  huge  expanse  is  thus  maintained  as  a  sanctuary, 


192 


THE  MAN-EATERS  OF  TSAVO 


CHAP. 


there  can  be  no   danger   of   any   of   these    species 
becoming  extinct. 

While  crossing  this  dry  expanse,  the  greatest 
difficulty  I  had  to  contend  with  was  the  provision 
of  sufficient  water  for  the  three  thousand  workmen 


WATERBUCK. 


employed  about  railhead,  for  not  a  drop  could  be 
obtained  on  the  way,  nor  could  we  hope  for  any 
until  we  had  got  to  the  other  side  of  the  plain  and 
had  reached  the  Athi  River,  which  could  not  be 
accomplished  under  a  couple  of  months.  As  we 
progressed  onwards  into  the  waterless  belt,  this 
became  a  very  serious  matter  indeed,  as  any  break- 


xvin  LIONS  ON  THE  ATHI  PLAINS  193 

down  in  the  supply  would  have  had  the  most 
disastrous  consequences  among  so  large  a  body  of 
men  working  all  day  under  the  blazing  sun  of  a 
tropical  climate.  Every  day  two  trainloads  of  water 
in  great  tanks  were  brought  up  from  the  last  stream 
we  had  passed,  which,  of  course,  daily  fell  further 
to  the  rear.  This  was  a  source  of  considerable 
delay,  for  the  line  was  blocked  all  the  time  the 
water  was  being  pumped  into  the  tanks,  and  conse- 
quently no  material  for  construction  could  come 
through  ;  and  a  good  deal  of  time  was  also  wasted, 
when  the  trains  returned  to  railhead,  in  distributing 
the  water  to  the  workmen,  who  often  quarrelled  and 
fought  in  their  eagerness  to  get  at  it.  At  first  I  had 
most  of  the  tank-filling  done  by  night,  but  on  one 
occasion  a  lion  came  unpleasantly  close  to  the  men 
working  the  pump,  and  so  night  work  had  to 
be  abandoned.  The  coolies  themselves  were  so 
anxious,  indeed,  to  get  a  plentiful  supply  of  water, 
that  once  or  twice  some  of  the  more  daring  spirits 
among  them  ventured  to  go  out  on  to  the  plains  in 
search  of  waterholes,  which,  by  reason  of  the  large 
herds  of  game,  we  knew  must  exist  somewhere. 
The  only  result  of  these  expeditions,  however,  was 
that  three  of  these  men  never  returned  ;  what  befell 
them  is  not  known  to  this  day. 

When  we  had    proceeded   some  distance  across 
this  dry  land,  and  when   I   was  experiencing  to  the 

o 


i94  THE  MAN-EATERS  OF  TSAVO          CHAP. 

full  the  disadvantage  and  delay  caused  by  my  tank 
trains,  a  native  from  some  remote  corner  of  the 
plains — with  nothing  by  way  of  dress  but  a  small 
piece  of  cowhide  thrown  over  his  left  shoulder- 
came  to  my  tent  door  one  day  and  squatted  down 
on  his  heels  in  the  native  fashion.  On  being  asked 
his  business,  "  I  have  heard,"  he  replied,  "that  the 
Great  Master  wants  water  ;  I  can  show  it  to  him." 
This  was  good  news,  if  it  could  be  relied  upon  ;  so 
I  questioned  him  closely,  and  ascertained  that  some 
time  previously — exactly  how  long  ago  I  could  not 
gather — he  had  been  in  the  locality  on  a  raiding 
expedition  and  had  succeeded  in  finding  water.  I 
asked  if  the  place  was  far  away,  and  got  the  reply 
in  Swahili:  "  M'bali  kidogo  "  ("  A  little  distance"). 
Now,  I  had  had  experience  of  M^bali  kidogo  before  ; 
it  is  like  the  Irishman's  "mile  and  a  bit."  So  I 
decided  to  start  very  early  next  morning  on  a  search 
for  this  pond — for  such  my  informant  described  it 
to  be.  In  the  meantime  the  poor  fellow,  who 
appeared  starving — there  was  a  sore  famine  among 
the  natives  of  the  district  at  the  time — was  given 
food  and  drink,  and  made  a  ravenous  meal.  In  the 
evening  I  had  a  long  talk  with  him  in  broken 
Swahili  round  the  camp  fire,  and  obtained  some 
insight  into  many  of  the  strange  and  barbarous 
customs  of  the  Masai,  to  which  interesting  tribe  he 
belonged. 


xvin  LIONS  ON  THE  ATHI  PLAINS  195 

In  the  morning  I  started  off  betimes,  taking  my 
•303  rifle  and  being  accompanied  by  Mahina  with 
the  1 2 -bore  shot-gun,  and  by  another  Indian  carry- 
ing the  necessary  food  and  water.  Our  Masai 
guide,  whose  name  we  found  to  be  Lungow,  seemed 
to  be  quite  certain  of  his  way,  and  led  us  across  the 
rolling  plains  more  or  less  in  the  direction  in  which 
the  railway  was  to  run,  but  some  miles  to  the  right 
of  its  centre-line.  The  march  was  full  of  interest, 
for  on  the  way  we  passed  within  easy  range  of  herds 
of  wildebeeste,  hartebeeste,  gazelle,  and  zebra.  I 
was  out  strictly  on  business,  however,  and  did  not 
attempt  a  shot,  reserving  that  pleasure  for  the 
homeward  trip.  Late  in  the  forenoon  we  arrived  at 
Lungow's  pond — a  circular  dip  about  eighty  yards 
in  diameter,  which  without  doubt  had  contained 
water  very  recently,  but  which,  as  I  expected  to 
find,  was  now  quite  dry.  A  considerable  number  of 
bones  lay  scattered  round  it,  whether  of  "kills"  or 
of  animals  which  had  died  of  thirst  I  could  not  say. 
Our  guide  appeared  very  much  upset  when  he  found 
the  pond  empty,  and  gave  vent  to  many  exclama- 
tions in  his  peculiar  language,  in  which  the  letter 
"  r  "  rolled  like  a  kettledrum. 

Our  search  for  water  having  thus  proved  a  failure, 
I  determined  to  try  my  luck  with  the  game.  The 
Masai  and  the  Indian  were  sent  back  to  camp, 
while  Mahina  and  I  made  a  big  detour  from  the 

o  2 


196  THE  MAN-EATERS  OF  TSAVO          CHAP. 


dried-up  water-hole.  Game  abounded  in  all  direc- 
tions, but  the  animals  were  much  more  shy  than 
they  had  been  in  the  morning,  and  it  was  in  vain 
that  I  stalked — if  it  can  be  called  "stalking,"  when 
as  a  matter  of  fact  one  has  to  move  in  the  open- 
splendid  specimens  of  Thomson's  and  Grant's 
gazelle.  I  might  have  attempted  a  shot  once  or 
twice,  but  the  probability  was  that  owing  to  the 
long  range  it  would  have  resulted  only  in  a  wound, 
and  I  think  there  is  nothing  so  painful  as  to  see  an 
animal  limping  about  in  a  crippled  condition.  In  this 
fruitless  manner  we  covered  several  miles,  and  I  was 
beginning  to  think  that  we  should  have  to  return  to 
camp  without  so  much  as  firing  a  shot.  Just  then, 
however,  I  saw  a  herd  of  wildebeeste,  and  with  much 
care  managed  to  get  within  three  hundred  yards  of 
them.  I  singled  out  the  biggest  head  and  waiting 
for  a  favourable  moment,  fired  at  him,  dropping 
him  at  once.  I  ran  up  to  the  fallen  beast,  which 
appeared  to  be  dying,  and  told  Mahina  to  drive  the 
hunting  knife  right  through  his  heart  so  as  to  put 
him  quickly  out  of  all  pain.  As  Mahina  was  not 
doing  this  as  skilfully  or  as  quickly  as  I  thought  it 
might  be  done,  and  seemed  unable  to  pierce  the 
tough  hide,  I  handed  him  my  rifle  and  took  the 
knife  in  order  to  do  it  myself.  Just  as  I  raised  the 
knife  to  strike,  I  was  startled  by  the  wildebeeste 
suddenly  jumping  to  his  feet.  For  a  moment  he 


xvm  LIONS  ON  THE  ATHI  PLAINS  197 


stood  looking  at  me  in  a  dazed  and  tottery  kind  of 
way,  and  then  to  my  amazement  he  turned  and 
made  off.  At  first  he  moved  with  such  a  shaky 
and  uncertain  gait  that  I  felt  confident  that  he  could 
only  go  a  few  yards  before  dropping  ;  so,  as  I  did 
not  wish  to  disturb  the  other  game  around  us  by 
firing  a  second  shot,  I  thought  it  best  just  to  wait. 
To  my  utter  astonishment,  however,  after  he  had 
staggered  for  about  sixty  yards  he  seemed  to  revive 
suddenly,  broke  into  his  ordinary  gallop  and  quickly 
rejoined  the  herd.  From  that  time  I  lost  all  trace 
of  him,  though  I  followed  up  for  four  or  five 
miles. 

The  wildebeeste,  in  fact,  is  like  Kipling's  Fuzzy- 
Wuzzy — "'e's  generally  shammin'  when  'e's  dead"; 
and  my  friend  Rawson  about  this  time  had  an 
experience  very  similar  to  mine,  but  attended  with 
more  serious  results.  He  had  knocked  his  wilde- 
beeste over  in  much  the  same  way,  and  thought  it 
was  dead  ;  and  as  he  was  very  keen  on  obtaining 
photographs  of  game,  he  took  his  stand-camera 
from  the  Indian  who  carried  it  and  proceeded  to 
focus  it  on  the  animal's  head.  When  he  was  just 
about  to  take  the  picture,  he  was  thunderstruck  to 
see  the  wildebeeste  jump  up  and  come  charging  down 
upon  him.  He  sprang  quickly  aside,  and  in  an 
instant  up  went  the  camera  into  the  air,  followed 
the  next  moment  by  the  unfortunate  Indian,  the 


198  THE  MAN-EATERS  OF  TSAVO          CHAP. 

wildebeeste  having  stuck  its  horn  right  through  the 
man's  thigh  and  tossed  him  over  its  back.  Fortu- 
nately the  brute  fell  dead  after  this  final  effort, 
leaving  Rawson  grateful  for  his  escape. 

After  abandoning  the  chase  of  my  wildebeeste,  we 
had  not  gone  far  on   our  ,way  towards  the   home 


"FORTUNATELY  THE  BRUTE  FELL  DEAD  AFTER  THIS  FINAL  EFFORT." 

camp  when  I  thought  I  observed  something  of  a 
reddish  colour  moving  in  a  patch  of  long  grass,  a 
good  distance  to  our  left  front.  I  asked  Mahina  if 
he  could  make  out  what  it  was,  but  he  was  unable 
to  do  so,  and  before  I  could  get  my  field-glasses  to 
bear,  the  animal,  whatever  it  was,  had  disappeared 
into  the  grass.  I  kept  my  eye  on  the  spot,  how- 


xviii  LIONS  ON  THE  ATHI  PLAINS  199 

ever,  and  we  gradually  approached  it.  When  we 
were  about  a  hundred  yards  off,  the  reddish  object 
again  appeared  ;  and  I  saw  that  it  was  nothing  less 
than  the  shaggy  head  of  a  lion  peeping  over  the 
long  grass.  This  time  Mahina  also  saw  what  it  was, 
and  called  out,  "Dekko,  Sahib,  sher!"  ("Look, 
Master,  a  lion !  ").  I  whispered  to  him  to  be  quiet 
and  to  take  no  notice  of  him,  while  I  tried  my  best 
to  follow  my  own  advice.  So  we  kept  on,  edging  up 
towards  the  beast,  but  apparently  oblivious  of  his 
presence,  as  he  lay  there  grimly  watching  us.  As 
we  drew  nearer,  I  asked  Mahina  in  a  whisper  if  he 
felt  equal  to  facing  a  charge  from  the  sher  if  I 
should  wound  him.  He  answered  simply  that 
where  I  went,  there  would  he  go  also ;  and  right 
well  he  kept  his  word. 

I  watched  the  lion  carefully  out  of  the  corner  of 
my  eye  as  we  closed  in.  Every  now  and  then  he 
would  disappear  from  view  for  a  moment ;  and  it 
was  a  fascinating  sight  to  see  how  he  slowly  raised 
his  massive  head  above  the  top  of  the  grass  again 
and  gazed  calmly  and  steadily  at  us  as  we  neared 
him.  Unfortunately  I  could  not  distinguish  the 
outline  of  his  body,  hidden  as  it  was  in  the  grassy 
thicket.  I  therefore  circled  cautiously  round  in 
order  to  see  if  the  covert  was  sufficiently  thin  at 
the  back  to  make  a  shoulder  shot  possible  ;  but  as 
we  moved,  the  lion  also  twisted  round  and  so  always 


200  THE  MAN-EATERS  OF  TSAVO          CHAP. 


kept  his  head  full  on   us.     When    I    had  described 
a  half-circle,  I  found  that  the  grass  was  no  thinner 
and  that  my  chances  of  a  shot   had  not  improved. 
We  were  now    within    seventy    yards   of  the  lion, 
who    appeared    to    take    the    greater     interest     in 
us    the    closer    we    approached.      He   had    lost  the 
sleepy    look    with  which    he    had   at  first  regarded 
us,  and  was  now  fully  on    the   alert ;    but  still    he 
did    not   give    me    the    impression    that   he    meant 
to  charge,  and  no   doubt  if  we  had  not  provoked 
him,  he  would  have  allowed  us  to  depart  in  peace. 
I,   however,  was  bent  on  war,   in   spite  of  the   risk 
which    one  must  always    run  by    attacking    a    lion 
at  such  close  quarters  on  an  open  plain  as  flat  as 
the   palm  of  the  hand  ;    so  in  a  standing  position 
I    took  careful   aim   at    his    head,    and    fired.     The 
distance  was,  as  I  have  said,  a  bare  seventy  yards  ; 
yet    I    must  confess   to  a   disgraceful  miss.      More 
astonishing  still,  the   beast  made  not    the   slightest 
movement — did   not  even   blink   an   eye,  so  far  as 
I  could  see — but  continued  his  steadfast,  questioning 
gaze.     Again  I  took  aim,  this  time  for  a  spot  below 
the  tip  of  his   nose,  and  again   I   fired — with  more 
success,  the  lion  turning  a  complete  somersault  over 
his    tail.      I    thought    he    was    done    for,    but    he 
instantly  sprang  to  his  feet  again,  and  to  my  horror 
and   astonishment   was  joined    by  a  lioness  whose 
presence  we  had  never  even  thought  of  or  suspected. 


xvin  LIONS  ON  THE  ATHI  PLAINS  201 


Worse  was  still  to  follow,  for  to  our  dismay  both 
made  a  most  determined  charge  on  us,  bounding  along 
at  a  great  pace  and  roaring  angrily  as  they  came. 
Poor  Mahina  cried  out,  "Sahib,  do  sher  ata  hai  /" 
("  Master,  two  lions  are  coming  !  "),  but  I  told  him 
to  stand  stock-still  and  for  his  life  not  to  make  the 
slightest  movement.  In  the  twinkling  of  an  eye  the 
two  beasts  had  covered  about  forty  yards  of  the  dis- 
tance towards  us.  As  they  did  not  show  the  least  sign 
of  stopping,  I  thought  we  had  given  the  experiment 
of  remaining  absolutely  motionless  a  fair  trial,  and 
was  just  about  to  raise  the  rifle  to  my  shoulder  as  a 
last  resort,  when  suddenly  the  wounded  lion 
stopped,  staggered,  and  fell  to  the  ground.  The 
lioness  took  a  couple  of  bounds  nearer  to  us, 
and  then  to  my  unmeasured  relief  turned  to  look 
round  for  her  mate,  who  had  by  this  time  managed 
to  get  to  his  feet  again.  There  they  both  stood, 
growling  viciously  and  lashing  their  tails,  for  what 
appeared  to  me  to  be  a  succession  of  ages.  The 
lioness  then  made  up  her  mind  to  go  back  to  the 
lion,  and  they  both  stood  broadside  on,  with  their 
heads  close  together  and  turned  towards  us,  snarling 
in  a  most  aggressive  manner.  Had  either  of  us 
moved  hand  or  foot  just  then,  it  would,  I  am 
convinced,  have  at  once  brought  on  another  and 
probably  a  fatal  charge. 

As  the  two  great  brutes  stood   in   this    position 


202  THE  MAN-EATERS  OF  TSAVO          CHAP. 

looking  at  us,  I  had,  of  course,  a  grand  opportunity 
of  dropping  both,  but  I  confess  I  did  not  feel  equal 
to  it  at  the  moment.  I  could  only  devoutly  hope 
that  they  would  not  renew  their  attack,  and  was 
only  too  thankful  to  let  them  depart  in  peace  if  they 
would,  without  any  further  hostility  on  my  part. 
Just  at  this  juncture  the  lion  seemed  to  grow 
suddenly  very  weak.  He  staggered  some  ten  yards 
back  towards  his  lair,  and  then  fell  to  the  ground  ; 
the  lioness  followed,  and  lay  down  beside  him — both 
still  watching  us,  and  growling  savagely.  After  a 
few  seconds  the  lion  struggled  to  his  feet  again  and 
retreated  a  little  further,  the  lioness  accompanying 
him  until  he  fell  once  more.  A  third  time  the  same 
thing  took  place,  and  at  last  I  began  to  breathe  more 
freely,  as  they  had  now  reached  the  thicket  from 
which  they  had  originally  emerged.  Accordingly 
I  took  a  shot  at  the  lioness  as  she  lay  beside  her 
mate,  partly  concealed  in  the  long  grass.  I  do  not 
think  I  hit  her,  but  anyhow  she  at  once  made  off 
and  bounded  away  at  a  great  rate  on  emerging  into 
the  open. 

I  sent  a  few  bullets  after  her  to  speed  her  on  her 
way,  and  then  cautiously  approached  the  wounded 
lion.  He  was  stretched  out  at  full  length  on  his 
side,  with  his  back  towards  me,  but  I  could  see  by 
the  heaving  of  his  flanks  that  he  was  not  yet  dead, 
so  I  put  a  bullet  through  his  spine.  He  never 


xvin  LIONS  ON  THE  ATHI  PLAINS  203 

moved  after  this  ;  but  for  safety's  sake,  I  made  no 
attempt  to  go  up  to  him  for  a  few  minutes,  and  then 
only  after  Mahina  had  planted  a  few  stones  on  his 
body  just  to  make  sure  that  he  was  really  dead. 

We  both  felt  very  pleased  with  ourselves  as  we 
stood  over  him  and  looked  at  his  fine  head,  great 
paws,  and  long,  clean,  sharp  tusks.  He  was  a 
young,  but  full-grown  lion  in  fine  condition,  and 
measured  nine  feet  eight  and  a  half  inches  from 
tip  of  nose  to  tip  of  tail.  My  last  shot  had  entered 
the  spine  close  to  the  shoulder,  and  had  lodged 
in  the  body  ;  the  first  shot  was  a  miss,  as  I  have 
already  said  ;  but  the  second  had  caught  him  on 
the  forehead,  right  between  the  eyes.  The  bullet, 
however,  instead  of  traversing  the  brain,  had  been 
turned  downwards  by  the  frontal  bone,  through 
which  it  crashed,  finally  lodging  in  the  root  of  the 
tongue,  the  lead  showing  on  both  sides.  I  cut 
out  the  tongue  and  hung  it  up  to  dry,  intending 
to  keep  it  as  a  trophy  ;  but  unfortunately  a  vulture 
swooped  down  when  my  back  was  turned,  and 
carried  it  off. 

From  the  time  I  knocked  the  lion  over  until  he 
first  staggered  and  fell  not  more  than  a  minute 
could  have  elapsed — quite  long  enough,  however, 
to  have  enabled  him  to  cover  the  distance  and  to 
have  seized  one  or  other  of  us.  Unquestionably  we 
owed  our  lives  to  the  fact  that  we  both  remained 


204  THE  MAN-EATERS  OF  TSAVO          CHAP. 

absolutely  motionless  ;  and  I  cannot  speak  too 
highly  of  Mahina  for  the  splendid  way  in  which  he 
stood  the  charge.  Had  he  acted  as  did  another 
gun-boy  I  know  of,  the  affair  might  not  have  had  so 
happy  an  ending.  This  gun-boy  went  out  with 
Captain  G—  -  in  this  very  neighbourhood,  and  not 
long  after  our  adventure.  G—  -  came  across  a 
lion  just  as  we  did,  and  wounded  it.  It  charged 
down  on  them,  but  instead  of  remaining  absolutely 
still,  the  terrified  gun-boy  fled,  with  the  result  that 
the  lion  came  furiously  on,  and  poor  G—  -  met 
with  a  terrible  death. 

While  Mahina  was  scouring  the  neighbourhood 
in  search  of  some  natives  to  carry  the  skin  back 
to  camp,  I  took  a  good  look  round  the  place  and 
found  the  half-eaten  body  of  a  zebra,  which  I 
noticed  had  been  killed  out  in  the  open  and  then 
dragged  into  the  long  grass.  The  tracks  told  me, 
also,  that  all  the  work  had  been  done  by  the  lion, 
and  this  set  me  thinking  of  the  lioness.  I  accord- 
ingly swept  the  plain  with  my  glasses  in  the  direc- 
tion in  which  she  had  bounded  off,  and  after  some 
searching  I  discovered  her  about  a  mile  away, 
apparently  lying  down  in  the  midst  of  a  herd  of 
hartebeeste,  who  grazed  away  without  taking  any 
notice  of  her.  I  felt  much  inclined  to  follow  her  uprf 
but  I  was  afraid  that  if  I  did  so  the  vultures  that 
were  already  hovering  around  would  settle  on  my 


xvm  LIONS  ON  THE  ATHI  PLAINS  205 

lion  and  spoil  the  skin,  for  the  destruction  of  which 
these  ravenous  birds  are  capable,  even  in  the  space 
of  only  a  few  minutes,  is  almost  beyond  belief.  I 
accordingly  returned  to  the  dead  beast  and  sat  down 
astride  of  him.  I  had  read  that  a  frontal  shot  at  a 
lion  was  a  very  risky  one,  and  on  carefully  examin- 
ing the  head  it  was  easy  to  see  the  reason  ;  for  owing 
to  the  sharp  backward  slope  of  the  forehead  it  is 
almost  impossible  for  a  bullet  fired  in  this  manner  to 
reach  the  brain.  As  there  were  lots  of  lions  about 
in  this  district  and  as  I  wanted  to  bag  some  more,  I 
set  myself  to  think  out  a  plan  whereby  the  risk  of  a 
frontal  shot  might  be  got  rid  of.  About  a  fortnight 
afterwards  I  had  an  opportunity  of  putting  my 
scheme  into  practice,  happily  with  most  excellent 
results  ;  this,  however,  is  another  story,  which  will 
be  told  later  on. 

I  next  commenced  to  skin  my  trophy  and  found  it 
a  very  tough  job  to  perform  by  myself.  He  proved 
to  be  a  very  fat'beast,  so  I  knew  that  Mahina  would 
make  a  few  honest  and  well-earned  rupees  out  of 
him,  for  Indians  will  give  almost  anything  for  lion 
fat,  believing  that  it  is  an  infallible  cure  for  rheuma- 
tism and  various  other  diseases.  When  at  length 
the  skinning  process  was  completed,  I  waited 
impatiently  for  the  return  of  Mahina,  who  had  by 
this  time  been  gone  much  longer  than  I  expected. 
It  is  rather  a  nerve-shattering  thing — I  am  speaking 


206  THE  MAN-EATERS  OF  TSAVO     CH.  xvm 

for  myself — to  remain  absolutely  alone  for  hours  on 
a  vast  open  plain  beside  the  carcase  of  a  dead 
lion,  with  vultures  incessantly  wheeling  about 
above  one,  and  with  nothing  to  be  seen  or  heard  for 
miles  around  except  wild  animals.  It  was  a  great 
relief,  therefore,  when  after  a  long  wait  I  saw 
Mahina  approaching  with  half-a-dozen  practically 
naked  natives  in  his  train.  It  turned  out  that  he 
had  lost  his  way  back  to  me,  so  that  it  was  lucky  he 
found  me  at  all.  We  lost  no  time  in  getting  back 
to  camp,  arriving  there  just  at  sundown,  when  my 
first  business  was  to  rub  wood  ashes  into  the  skin 
and  then  stretch  it  on  a  portable  frame  which  I  had 
made  a  few  days  previously.  The  camp  fire  was  a 
big  one  that  night,  and  the  graphic  and  highly 
coloured  description  which  Mahina  gave  to  the  eager 
circle  of  listeners  of  the  way  in  which  we  slew  the 
lion  would  have  made  even  "  Bahram,  that  great 
Hunter,"  anxious  for  his  fame. 


CHAPTER  XIX 

THE    STRICKEN    CARAVAN 

NOT  long  after  this  adventure  the  permanent  way 
reached  the  boundary  of  the  Kapiti  Plains,  where  a 
station  had  to  be  built  and  where  accordingly  we 
took  up  our  headquarters  for  a  week  or  two.  A 
few  days  after  we  had  settled  down  in  our  new 
camp,  a  great  caravan  of  some  four  thousand  men 
arrived  from  the  interior  with  luggage  and  loads  of 
food  for  a  Sikh  regiment  which  was  on  its  way 
down  to  the  coast,  after  having  been  engaged  in 
suppressing  the  mutiny  of  the  Sudanese  in  Uganda. 
The  majority  of  these  porters  were  Basoga,  but 
there  were  also  fair  numbers  of  Baganda  (i.e.  people 
of  Uganda)  and  of  the  natives  of  Unyoro,  and 
various  other  tribes.  Of  course  none  of  these  wild 
men  of  Central  Africa  had  either  seen  or  heard  of  a 
railway  in  all  their  lives,  and  they  consequently 
displayed  the  liveliest  curiosity  in  regard  to  it, 
crowding  round  one  of  the  engines  which  happened 


208  THE  MAN-EATERS  OF  TSAVO          CHAP. 

to  be  standing  at  the  station,  and  hazarding  the 
wildest  guesses  as  to  its  origin  and  use  in  a  babel 
of  curious  native  languages.  I  thought  I  would 
provide  a  little  entertainment  for  them,  so  I  stepped 
on  to  the  footplate  and  blew  off  the  steam,  at  the  same 
time  sounding  the  whistle.  The  effect  was  simply 
magical.  The  whole  crowd  first  threw  themselves 

o 

flat  on  the  ground  howling  with  fear,  and  then— 
with  heads  well  down  and  arms  well  spread  out— 
they  fled  wildly  in  all  directions  ;  nor  did  the 
stampede  cease  until  I  shut  off  steam  and  stopped 
the  whistle.  Then,  their  curiosity  gradually  over- 
powering them,  very  cautiously  they  began  to 
return,  approaching  the  locomotive  stealthily  as 
though  it  were  some  living  monster  of  the  jungle. 
Eventually,  two  of  their  chiefs  summoned  up 
courage  enough  to  climb  on  to  the  engine,  and 
afterwards  thoroughly  enjoyed  a  short  run  which 
I  had  to  make  down  the  line  in  order  to  bring 
up  some  construction  material. 

Just  after  this  caravan  had  moved  on  we  were 
subjected  to  some  torrential  rain-storms,  which 
transformed  the  whole  plain  into  a  quaking  bog 
and  stopped  all  railway  work  for  the  time  being. 
Indeed,  the  effect  of  a  heavy  downpour  of  rain  in 
this  sun-baked  district  is  extraordinary.  The  ground, 
which  is  of  a  black  sub-soil,  becomes  a  mass  of  thick 
mud  in  no  time,  and  on  attempting  to  do  any  walk- 


xix  THE  STRICKEN  CARAVAN  209 


ing  one  slides  and  slips  about  in  the  slush  in  a  most 
uncomfortable  manner.  Innocent-looking  dongas. 

o  o 

where  half  an  hour  previously  not  one  drop  of 
water  was  to  be  seen,  become  roaring  torrents  from 
bank  to  bank  in  an  incredibly  short  time  ;  while  for 
many  hours  or  even  a  few  days  the  rivers  become 
absolutely  impassable  in  this  land  of  no  bridges. 
On  this  account  it  is  the  custom  of  the  wise  traveller 
in  these  parts  always  to  cross  a  river  before  camping, 
for  otherwise  a  flood  may  come  down  and  detain 
him  and  his  caravan  on  the  wrong  side  of  the 
stream  for  perhaps  a  week.  Of  course  when  the 
rain  ceases,  the  floods  as  quickly  subside,  the 
rivers  and  dongas  dry  up,  and  the  country  once 
more  resumes  its  normal  sun-cracked  appearance. 

On  leaving  my  tent  one  morning  when  work  was 
at  a  standstill  owing  to  the  rain,  I  noticed  a  great 
herd  of  zebra  about  a  couple  of  miles  away  on  the 
north  side  of  the  railway.  Now,  it  had  long  been 
my  ambition  to  capture  one  of  these  animals  alive  ; 
so  I  said  to  myself,  "  Here  is  my  chance !  "  The 
men  could  do  nothing  owing  to  the  rain,  and  the 
ground  was  very  boggy,  so  I  thought  that  if  we 
could  surround  the  herd  judiciously  and  chase  the 
zebra  up  and  down  from  point  to  point  through  the 
heavy  ground,  some  of  them  would  soon  get  ex- 
hausted and  we  should  then  be  able  to  catch  them.  I 
selected  for  the  hunt  a  dozen  fleet-footed  Indians  who 

p 


210  THE  MAN-EATERS  OF  TSAVO          CHAP. 

were  employed  on  the  earth  works,  and  who  at  once 
entered  with  great  zest  into  the  spirit  of  the  scheme. 
After  having  partially  surrounded  the  herd,  the  half- 
circle  of  coolies  began  to  advance  with  wild  shouts, 
whereupon  the  zebras  galloped  madly  about  from 
side  to  side,  and  then  did  just  what  we  wished  them 
to  do — made  straight  for  an  exceptionally  boggy 
part  of  the  ground,  where  they  soon  became  more 
or  less  helpless.  We  singled  out  a  few  young  ones 
and  succeeded  in  running  them  to  an  absolute  stand- 
still, when  we  threw  them  down  and  sat  on  their 
heads  until  the  other  men  came  up  with  ropes.  In 
this  way  we  captured  no  less  than  six  :  they  were 
very  wild  and  fractious,  giving  us  a  great  deal  of 
trouble  in  getting  them  along,  but  eventually  \ve 
managed  to  bring  them  in  triumph  to  the  camp 
where  they  were  firmly  secured.  The  whole  expe- 
dition lasted  little  more  than  a  couple  of  hours. 

Three  of  the  captured  zebras  I  kept  for  myself, 
while  the  other  three  were  given  to  the  Surfacing 
Engineer,  whose  men  had  assisted  in  the  hunt. 
Two  of  my  three  unfortunately  died  very  shortly 
after ;  but  the  third,  a  sturdy  two-year-old,  flourished 
splendidly.  At  first  he  was  exceedingly  vicious, 
biting  and  kicking  everyone  who  approached  him  ; 
indeed,  he  once  planted  both  his  hind  feet  on  my 
chest,  but  did  me  no  serious  damage  beyond  throw- 
ing me  heavily  to  the  ground.  In  time,  however, 


XIX 


THE  STRICKEN  CARAVAN 


211 


he  became  very  tame  and  domesticated,  allowing 
himself  to  be  led  about  by  a  rope  and  head  collar, 
and  would  drink  from  a  bucket  and  eat  from  my 
hand.  He  used  to  be  left  to  graze  picketed  by  a 
long  rope  to  a  stake  in  the  ground  ;  but  one  after- 
noon on  returning  to  camp  I  found,  much  to  my 


•'  \VE    MANAGED   TO    BRING    THEM'  IN    TRIUMPH    TO    THE   CAMP." 

annoyance,  that  he  had  disappeared.  On  making 
enquiry,  I  learned  from  my  servants  that  a  herd  ot 
wild  zebra  had  galloped  close  by,  and  that  this  had 
so  excited  him  that  he  managed  to  tear  the  picket- 
ing peg  out  of  the  ground  and  so  rejoin  his  brethren 
in  freedom. 

Some  few  days  after  our  successful  sortie  against 

P  2 


212  THE  MAN-EATERS  OF  TSAVO          CHAP. 

the  zebra,  the  great  caravan  of  Basoga  porters  re- 
turned from  the  coast  on  their  way  back  to  their 
own  country  ;  but  alas,  with  what  a  terrible  difference 
in  their  appearance !  All  their  gaiety  and  light- 
heartedness  was  gone,  and  the  poor  fellows  were  in 
a  pitiable  state!  A  frightful  epidemic  of  dysentery 
had  broken  out  amongst  them,  doubtless  caused  by 
their  having  eaten  food  to  which  they  were  entirely 
unaccustomed,  their  simple  diet  in  their  own  homes 
consisting  almost  entirely  of  bananas,  from  which 
they  also  make  a  most  refreshing  and  stimulating 
drink.  The  ranks  of  the  caravan  were  terribly  deci- 
mated, and  dozens  of  men  were  left  dead  or  dying 
along  the  roadside  after  each  march.  It  was  a  case 
of  the  survival  of  the  fittest,  as  of  course  it  was  quite 
impossible  for  the  whole  caravan  to  halt  in  the 
wilderness  where  neither  food  nor  water  was  to  be 
had.  There  was  only  one  European  with  the  party, 
and  although  he  worked  like  a  slave  he  could  do 
very  little  among  such  a  number,  while  the  Basoga 
themselves  seemed  quite  indifferent  to  the  sufferings 
of  their  comrades.  Thirteen  poor  wretches  fell  out 
to  die  close  to  my  tent  ;  they  were  in  the  most  hope- 
less condition  and  far  too  weak  to  be  able  to  do  any- 
thing at  all  for  themselves.  As  soon  as  I  discovered 
them,  I  boiled  a  bucketful  of  water,  added  some 
tins  of  condensed  milk  and  the  greater  part  of  a 
bottle  of  brandy  to  it,  and  fed  them  with  the  mix- 


xix  THE  STRICKEN  CARAVAN  213 


ture.  Their  feeble  cries  for  some  of  this  nourish- 
ment were  heartrending  ;  some  could  only  whisper, 
"  Bwana,  Bwana"  ("Master,  Master  "),  and  then 
open  their  mouths.  One  or  two  of  them,  indeed, 
could  hardly  do  even  this,  and  were  so  weak  as  to 
be  unable  to  swallow  the  spoonful  of  milk  which  I 
put  between  their  lips.  In  the  end  six  proved  to  be 
beyond  all  help,  and  died  that  night  ;  but  the  re- 
maining seven  I  managed  to  nurse  into  complete 
recovery  in  about  a  fortnight's  time.  As  our  camp 
was  moved  on,  they  were  brought  along  from  place 
to  place  on  the  top  of  trucks,  until  finally  they  were 
well  enough  to  resume  their  journey  to  Usoga,  very 
grateful  indeed  for  the  care  which  we  had  taken  of 
them. 

The  day  after  I  first  found  these  stricken  natives 
I  had  arranged  to  ride  on  my  pony  for  some  miles 
in  advance  of  the  railway,  in  order  to  make  arrange- 
ments for  the  building  of  a  temporary  bridge  over 
the  Stony  Athi  River — a  tributary  of  the  Athi,  and 
so-called  on  account  of  the  enormous  numbers  of 
stones  in  its  bed  and  along  its  banks.  I  ordered 
my  tent  to  follow  me  later  in  the  day,  and  left 
directions  for  the  care  of  the  sick  Basoga,  as  I  knew 
I  should  be  away  all  night.  My  road  lay  along  the 
route  taken  by  the  home-returning  caravan,  and 
every  hundred  yards  or  so  I  passed  the  swollen 
corpse  of  some  unfortunate  porter  who  had  fallen 


214  THE  MAN-EATERS  OF  TSAVO          CHAP. 

out  and  died  by  the  wayside.  Before  very  long  I 
came  up  with  the  rearguard  of  this  straggling  army, 
and  here  I  was  witness  of  as  unfeeling  an  act  of 
barbarism  as  can  well  be  imagined.  A  poor  wretch, 
utterly  unable  to  go  a  step  further,  rolled  himself  up 
in  his  scarlet  blanket  and  lay  down  by  the  roadside 
to  die  ;  whereupon  one  of  his  companions,  coveting 
the  highly-coloured  and  highly-prized  article,  turned 
back,  seized  one  end  of  the  blanket,  and  callously 
rolled  the  dying  man  out  of  it  as  one  would  unroll 
a  bale  of  goods.  This  was  too  much  for  me,  so  I 
put  spurs  to  my  pony  and  galloped  up  to  the 
scoundrel,  making  as  if  to  thrash  him  with  my 
kiboko,  or  whip  made  of  rhinoceros  hide.  In  a 
moment  he  put  his  hand  on  his  knife  and  half 
drew  it  from  its  sheath,  but  on  seeing  me  dis- 
mount and  point  my  rifle  at  him,  he  desisted  and 
tried  to  run  away.  I  made  it  clear  to  him  by  signs, 
however,  that  I  would  fire  if  he  did  not  at  once  go 
back  and  replace  the  blanket  round  his  dying 
comrade.  This  he  eventually  did,  though  sullenly 
enough,  and  I  then  marched  him  in  front  of  me  to 
the  main  camp  of  the  caravan,  some  little  distance 
further  on.  Here  I  handed  him  over  to  the  officer 
in  charge,  who,  I  am  glad  to  say,  had  him  soundly 
thrashed  for  his  brutality  and  theft. 

After   performing    this    little   act   of    retributive 
justice,  I   pushed  on  towards  the  Stony  Athi.     On 


xix  THE  STRICKEN  CARAVAN  215 

the  way — while  still  not  far  from  the  caravan  camp 
—I  spied  a  Grant's  gazelle  in  the  distance,  and  by 
the  aid  of  my  glasses  discovered  that  it  was  a  fine- 
looking  buck  with  a  capital  pair  of  horns.  A  few 
Basoga  from  the  caravan  had  followed  me,  doubtless 
in  the  hope  of  obtaining  meat,  of  which  they  are 


"  I    GOT  NEAR  ENOUGH  FOR    A    SAFE    SHOT,    WHICH    BOWLED  THE  ANTELOPE 
OVER   STONE-DEAD." 


inordinately  fond  ;  so,  handing  them  my  pony,  I 
wriggled  from  tuft  to  tuft  and  crawled  along  in  the 
folds  of  the  ground  until  eventually  I  got  near 
enough  for  a  safe  shot,  which  bowled  the  antelope 
over  stone-dead.  Scarcely  had  he  dropped  when 
the  Basoga  swooped  down  on  him,  ripped  him  open, 
and  devoured  huge  chunks  of  the  raw  and  still 


216  THE  MAN-EATERS  OF  TSAVO          CHAP. 


quivering  flesh,  lapping  up  the  warm  blood  in  the 
palms  of  their  hands.  In  return  for  the  meat  which 
I  gave  them,  two  of  them  willingly  agreed  to  go  on 
with  me  and  carry  the  head  and  haunch  of  the 
gazelle.  When  we  had  got  very  nearly  to  the  place 
where  I  intended  to  camp  for  the  night,  a  great 
wart-hog  suddenly  jumped  up  almost  at  my  horse's 
feet,  and  as  he  had  very  fine  and  exceptionally  long 
tusks,  I  dismounted  at  once  and  bagged  him  too. 
The  Basoga  were  delighted  at  this,  and  promptly 
cut  off  the  head  ;  but  my  own  people,  who  arrived 
with  my  tent  just  at  this  juncture,  and  who  were  all 
good  Mohammedans,  were  thoroughly  disgusted  at 
the  sight  of  this  very  hideous-looking  pig. 

I  camped  for  the  night  on  the  banks  of  the  Stony 
Athi,  close  to  where  the  railway  was  to  cross,  and 
made  my  notes  of  what  was  necessary  for  the 
temporary  bridge.  At  the  time  the  river  was  abso- 
lutely dry,  but  I  knew  that  it  might  at  any  moment 
become  a  roaring  torrent  if  rain  should  set  in  ;  it 
would  therefore  be  necessary  to  span  it  with  a 
forty-foot  girder  in  order  to  prevent  constant 
"washouts"  during  the  rainy  season.  The  next 
morning  I  started  early  on  my  return  to  railhead. 
On  my  way  I  had  to  pass  the  camp  which  the 
Basoga  caravan  had  just  left,  but  the  spectacle  of 
about  a  dozen  newly-made  graves  which  the  hyaenas 
had  already  torn  open  caused  me  to  put  spurs  to 


XIX 


THE  STRICKEN  CARAVAN 


217 


my  horse  and  to  gallop  as  fast  as  possible  through 
the  pestilential  spot.  When  I  had  almost  got  back 
to  railhead  I  happened  to  notice  a  huge  serpent 
stretched  out  on  the  grass,  warming  himself,  his 
skin  of  old  gold  and  bright  green  sparkling  bril- 
liantly in  the  sunshine.  He  appeared  to  take  little 
notice  of  me  as  I  cautiously  approached,  and  was 
probably  drowsy  and  sated  with  a  heavy  meal.  I 
shot  him  through  the  head  as  he  lay,  and  the 
muscular  contortions  after  death  throughout  his 
long  body  gave  me  a  very  vivid  idea  of  the 
tremendous  squeezing  power  possessed  by  these 
reptiles.  Skinning  him  was  an  easy  process,  but 
unfortunately  his  beautiful  colouring  soon  disap- 
peared, the  old  gold  turning  to  white  and  the 
bright  green  to  lustreless  black. 


WART-HOG 


CHAPTER  XX 

A    DAY    ON    THE    ATHI    RIVER 

IN  spite  of  all  our  difficulties,  rapid  progress  con- 
tinued to  be  made  with  the  line.  Each  day  railhead 
crept  a  mile  or  so  further  across  the  Plains,  and  on 
April  24  we  reached  the  Stony  Athi  River,  where  our 
great  camp  was  pitched  for  a  few  days  while  the 
temporary  bridge  was  being  thrown  across  the  dry 
bed  of  the  stream.  Still  another  temporary  bridge 
had  to  be  arranged  for  the  Athi  itself,  which  was 
some  eight  miles  further  on,  so  I  had  to  make 
one  or  two  expeditions  to  this  river  in  order  to 
select  a  suitable  place  for  the  crossing  and  to  make 
various  other  arrangements.  On  one  of  these 
occasions  I  was  busy  attending  to  the  pitching  of  my 
tent  after  arriving  at  the  Athi  late  in  the  evening, 
when  on  looking  round  I  was  very  much  surprised 
to  see  two  European  ladies  sitting  under  the  shade 
of  some  trees  on  the  river  bank.  As  I  knew 
that  this  was  anything  but  a  safe  place  in  which 


CH.  xx         A  DAY  ON  THE  ATHI  RIVER  219 


to  rest,  owing  to  the  number  of  lions  about,  I  went 
up  to  them  to  see  if  I  could  be  of  any  assistance, 
and  found  that  they  were  American  missionaries 
journeying  to  their  stations  further  inland.  They 
were  waiting  for  their  camp  equipment  to  arrive, 
but  their  porters  had  been  considerably  delayed 
by  some  very  heavy  rain,  which  of  course  made  the 
roads  bad  and  the  tents  about  double  their  usual 
weight.  The  men  of  the  party  were  expected 
every  moment  with  the  porters,  but  there  was  as 
yet  no  sign  of  the  little  caravan,  and  as  a  matter 
of  fact  it  did  not  arrive  until  Jong  after  nightfall. 
In  these  circumstances  it  was  perhaps  a  great 
blessing  that  I  happened  to  be  there  ;  and  as 
the  ladies  were  both  very  tired  and  hungry,  I 
was  glad  to  be  able  to  place  my  tent  at  their  dis- 
posal and  to  offer  them  as  good  a  dinner  as  it 
was  possible  to  provide  in  the  wilds.  It  is  indeed 
wonderful  what  dangers  and  hardships  these  deli- 
cately nurtured  ladies  will  face  cheerfully  in  order  to 
carry  out  their  self-appointed  mission. 

When  they  had  left  next  morning  to  resume  their 
journey,  I  started  out  and  made  a  search  up  and 
down  the  river  for  the  proper  position  for  my 
temporary  bridge.  After  a  thorough  examination 
of  all  the  possible  situations,  I  chose  the  most 
suitable  and  pitched  my  tent  close  to  it  for  a  night 
or  two  while  I  made  the  necessary  calculations  for 


220  THE  MAN-EATERS  OF  TSAVO          CHAP. 


carrying  out  the  work.  The  crossing  on  which  I 
had  decided  had  to  be  approached  by  a  somewhat 
sharp  curve  in  the  line,  and  in  laying  this  out  with 
the  theodolite  I  experienced  considerable  difficulty, 
as  for  some  reason  or  other  I  could  not  make  the 
last  peg  on  the  curve  come  anywhere  near  the 
tangent-point  where  the  curve  should  link  up 
with  the  straight.  I  repeated  the  whole  operation 
time  after  time,  but  always  with  the  same  result. 
Eventually  I  came  to  the  conclusion  that  there  must 
be  some  mistake  in  the  table  of  angles  from  which  I 
had  been  working,  so  I  started  to  work  them  out  for 
myself  and  soon  discovered  a  serious  misprint. 
This  being  rectified  in  my  calculations,  I  proceeded 
to  lay  out  the  curve  again,  when  at  last  everything 
came  out  accurately  and  to  my  satisfaction. 

After  I  had  pegged  out  this  temporary  diversion 
of  the  line,  I  thought  I  richly  deserved  a  few  hours' 
play,  and  accordingly  determined  to  try  my  luck  after 
lions  up-stream  towards  the  source  of  the  Athi. 
The  river — which  runs  almost  due  north  here, 
before  taking  a  turn  eastward  to  the  Indian  Ocean- 
forms  part  of  the  western  boundary  of  the  Athi 
Plains,  and  is  fringed  all  along  its  course  by  a  belt 
of  thorny  hardwood  trees.  In  some  places  this 
fringe  is  quite  narrow,  while  in  others  it  is  about  a 
quarter  of  a  mile  wide,  with  grassy  glades  here  and 
there  among  the  trees.  Every  now  and  again,  too, 


xx  A  DAY  ON  THE  ATHI  RIVER  221 

the  stream  itself  widens  out  into  a  broad  stretch  of 
water,  nearly  always  covered  over  with  tall  reeds 
and  elephant  grass,  while  along-  the  banks  are 
frequent  patches  of  stunted  bushes,  which  struck  me 
as  very  likely  places  for  the  king  of  beasts  to  sleep  in 
after  having  drunk  at  the  river.  I  had  noticed  that 
after  having  eaten  and  drunk  well,  a  lion  would 
throw  himself  down  quite  without  caution  in  the 
first  shady  spot  he  came  to  ;  of  course-  nothing 
except  man  ever  disturbs  him,  and  even  of  man  the 
lions  in  this  part  of  the  country  had  as  yet  no  fear, 
for  they  had  rarely  if  ever  been  hunted  previous  to 
my  time. 

As  I  felt  rather  tired  after  my  morning's  work,  I 
decided  to  use  my  pony  on  this  expedition,  although 
as  a  rule  I  went  on  foot.  Mahina  and  half-a-dozen 
natives  to  beat  the  belt  of  trees  were  to  accompany 
me,  and  after  a  hasty  lunch  off  we  started  up  the  left 
bank  of  the  river.  I  walked  for  some  distance  at 
first,  partly  because  the  ground  was  very  stony  and 
partly  because  I  thought  a  lion  might  suddenly 
bound  out  of  some  likely  patches  in  front  of  the 
beaters  ;  but  after  having  gone  about  six  miles  in 
this  way  without  adventure  of  any  kind,  I  decided 
to  mount  again.  At  this  time  the  beaters  were  in 
line  about  a  hundred  yards  behind  me,  shouting  and 
halloing  with  all  their  might  as  they  advanced 
through  the  scrub  and  undergrowth,  while  I  rode 


222  THE  MAN-EATERS  OF  TSAVO          CHAP. 

well  to  the  flank  so  as  to  be  ready  for  any  emergency. 
Just  as  the  men  got  up  to  a  rather  thicker  piece  of 
jungle  than  usual,  I  fancied  I  saw  a  movement 
among  the  bushes  and  pulled  up  suddenly  to  watch 
the  spot,  but  did  not  dismount.  The  next  moment 
out  bounded  a  lioness,  who  raced  straight  across  the 
open  strip  into  the  next  patch  of  jungle,  quickly 
followed  by  another.  Throwing  myself  off  my  pony, 
I  seized  my  rifle  to  get  a  shot  at  the  second  lioness  as 
she  galloped  past,  and  was  just  about  to  pull  the 
trigger,  when  to  my  utter  amazement  out  sprang  a 
huge  black-maned  lion,  making  all  haste  after  his 
mates.  Before  he  could  reach  the  further  thicket, 
however,  I  fired,  and  had  the  satisfaction  of  hearing 
the  deep  growl  that  tells  of  a  serious  hit. 

The  beaters  and  I  now  advanced  with  great  care, 
taking  advantage  of  every  bit  of  cover  and  keeping 
a  sharp  look-out  for  the  wounded  animal  as  we  crept 
from  tree  to  tree.  Fully  a  quarter  of  an  hour  must 
have  elapsed  in  this  slow  yet  exciting  search,  before 
one  of  the  men,  some  fifty  or  sixty  yards  to  my  left, 
and  a  little  ahead  of  the  line,  called  out  that  he  could 
see  the  lion  awaiting  our  approach,  with  his  head  just 
visible  in  a  large  bed  of  rushes  only  a  short  distance 
in  front  of  where  I  then  was.  Almost  at  the  same 
moment  I  found  blood  marks  left  by  the  wounded 
animal,  leading  apparently  to  a  kind  of  gap  in  the 
bank  of  the  river,  which  had  evidently  been  worn 


xx  A  DAY  ON  THE  ATHI  RIVER  223 

down  by  a  rhino  going  to  and  fro  to  drink.  I  accord- 
ingly made  for  this  with  the  greatest  caution,  order- 
ing all  the  men,  except  Mahina,  to  remain  behind  ; 
and  as  noiselessly  as  possible  I  slipped  from  cover  to 
cover  in  my  endeavour  to  obtain  a  peep  over  the 
bank.  I  saw  that  it  was  no  use  to  attempt  to  climb 
a  tree,  as  the  overspreading  foliage  would  have 
prevented  me  from  obtaining  any  view  ahead  ;  so  I 
continued  my  slow  advance  with  a  fast-beating 
heart,  not  knowing  where  the  huge  brute  was  and 
expecting  every  moment  that  he  would  charge  out 
at  me  over  the  bank  from  his  reedy  refuge. 
Emboldened  to  a  certain  extent,  however,  by  the 
fact  that  up  till  then  I  had  heard  no  movement  on 
the  part  of  my  enemy,  I  crept  steadily  forward  and 
at  last,  from  the  shelter  of  a  friendly  tree  behind 
the  bole  of  which  I  hid  myself,  I  was  able  to  look 
over  the  bank.  And  there,  not  twenty  yards  from 
me,  crouched  the  lion — luckily  watching,  not  me, 
but  the  native  who  had  first  seen  him  and  who  had 
directed  me  to  where  he  was.  I  raised  my  rifle  very 
cautiously,  without  making  the  slightest  sound,  and 
steadying  the  barrel  against  the  trunk  of  the  tree 
and  standing  on  tip-toe  in  order  to  get  a  better  view, 
I  fired  plump  at  the  side  of  his  head.  It  was  as 
if  he  had  suddenly  been  hit  with  a  sledge-hammer, 
for  he  fell  over  instantly  and  lay  like  a  log. 

On  my  calling  out  that  the  lion  was  done  for,  the 


224  THE  MAN-EATERS  OF  TSAVO          CHAP. 


beaters  came  running  up  shouting  with  joy  ;  and 
although  I  warned  them  to  be  careful,  as  the  two 
lionesses  were  probably  still  close  at  hand,  they  did 
not  seem  to  care  in  the  slightest  and  in  a  twinkling 
had  the  dead  lion  lifted  from  the  reeds  on  to  the  dry 
bank.  Before  I  allowed  anything  further  to  be  done, 
however,  I  had  the  patch  of  rushes  thoroughly 
beaten  out :  but  as  no  traces  of  the  lionesses  could 
be  found,  we  commenced  to  skin  my  fine  trophy. 
When  this  was  about  half  done,  I  decided  to  let 
Mahina  finish  the  operation,  while  I  went  on  ahead 
to  try  my  luck  either  with  more  lions  or  with  any 
other  game  that  might  come  my  way.  I  followed 
up  the  river  almost  to  its  source,  but  no  more  lions 
crossed  my  path.  Once  indeed  I  felt  convinced 
that  I  saw  one,  and  gave  chase  to  it  with  all  my 
might  as  it  rushed  through  the  long  grass  :  but  a 
nearer  view  showed  me  nothing  more  than  a  huge 
wart-hog.  As  I  wanted  the  tusks,  which  I  noticed 
were  very  fine  ones,  I  fired  but  only  badly  hipped 
him  :  so  I  ran  up  as  fast  as  I  could  and  at  ten 
yards  fired  again.  This  time  I  missed  him  entirely, 
and  was  puzzled  to  account  for  my  failure  until  I 
looked  at  my  back  sight  and  found  that  by  some 
accident  it  had  got  raised  and  that  I  had  the  200- 
yards  sight  up.  On  rectifying  this,  another  shot 
quickly  put  the  wounded  animal  out  of  pain. 

Still   my  day's   sport    was   not  yet  over.      While 


XX 


A  DAY  ON  THE  ATHI  RIVER 


225 


rambling  back  through  the  trees,  I  caught  sight  of 
a  graceful-looking  antelope  in  the  distance,  and  on 
cautiously  approaching  closer  saw  that  it  was  an 
impala.  My  stalk  was  crowned  with  success,  the 
beautiful  animal  being  bagged  without  much  trouble; 


'A    SUCCESSFUL    SNAPSHOT    OF    AN     IMI'ALA    JUST    AFTER     IT    HAD   BEEN 

SHOT." 


and  on  reaching  my  prize  I  was  delighted  to  find 
that  its  horns  were  much  above  the  average.  On 
another  occasion  I  was  fortunate  enough  to  get  a 
successful  snapshot  of  an  impala  just  after  it  had 
been  shot  by  a  friend,  and  the  photograph  gives  a 
very  good  idea  of  what  mine  was  like. 

Q 


226  THE  MAN-EATERS  OF  TSAVO          CHAP. 


As  it  was  now  growing  late,  I  made  all  haste  back 
to  where  I  had  left  Mahina  skinning  the  lion,  but  to 
my  astonishment  he  was  nowhere  to  be  seen.  I 
fired  several  shots  and  shouted  myself  hoarse,  all 
without  response  ;  and  the  only  conclusion  I  could 
come  to  was  that  he  had  returned  to  the  camp  at  the 
temporary  bridge.  I  accordingly  pushed  on,  reach- 
ing home  long  after  dark  ;  and  there  I  found  Mahina 
safe  and  sound,  with  the  lion's  skin  already  pegged 
out  to  dry,  so  that  I  could  not  find  it  in  my  heart  to  give 
him  the  severe  scolding  he  deserved  for  having 
returned  without  me.  Next  morning  I  packed  up 
my  trophies  and  returned  to  my  work  at  railhead. 
On  my  way  back  I  happened  to  meet  one  of  the 
other  engineers,  who  called  out,  "  Hallo  !  I  hear 
you  have  got  a  fine  line." 

My  thoughts  being  full  of  my  adventures  of  the 
day  before,  I  answered  :  "  Yes,  I  did  ;  but  how  on 
earth  did  you  hear  of  it  ?  " 

"  Oh  !  "  he  said,   "  Reynolds  told  me." 

"Good  heavens,"  I  replied,  "why,  he  left  before 
I  shot  it." 

"  Shot  ? "  he  exclaimed,  "  whatever  do  you 
mean  ?  " 

"  Didn't  you  say,"  I  asked,  "that  you  heard  I 
had  got  a  fine  lion  ?  " 

"  No,  no,"  was  his  reply  ;  "  a  fine  line  for  the  tem- 
porary bridge  over  the  river." 


XX 


A  DAY  ON  THE  ATHI  RIVER 


227 


We  both  laughed  heartily  at  the  misunderstanding, 
and  when  he  saw  my  trophy,  which  was  being  carried 
by  my  man  just  behind  me,  he  agreed  that  it  was 
quite  fine  enough  to  monopolise  my  thoughts  and 
prevent  me  from  thinking  of  anything  else. 


Q  2 


CHAPTER  XXI. 

THE    MASAI    AND    OTHER    TRIBES 

A  FEW  Masai  may  still  be  seen  on  the  Athi  Plains, 
but  as  a  rule  they  keep  away  from  the  railway,  the 
majority  of  the  tribe  being  now  settled  on  the 
Laikipia  Plateau.  Formerly  they  were  by  far  the 
most  powerful  native  race  in  East  Africa,  and  when 
on  the  war-path  were  the  terror  of  the  whole  country 
from  the  furthest  limits  of  Uganda  to  Mombasa 
itself.  Their  numbers  have  latterly  become  greatly 
reduced  through  famine  and  small-pox,  but  the 
remnant  of  the  tribe,  more  especially  the  men,  are 
still  a  fine,  lithe,  clean-limbed  people.  While  I  was 
stationed  in  the  Plains  I  managed  to  have  an  inter- 
view with  the  chief,  Lenana,  at  one  of  his  "  royal 
residences,"  a  kraal  near  Nairobi.  He  was  affability 
itself,  presenting  me  with  a  spear  and  shield  as  a 
memento  of  the  occasion  ;  but  he  had  the  reputation 
of  being  a  most  wily  old  potentate,  and  I  found  this 
quite  correct,  as  whenever  he  was  asked  an  awkward 


CH.  xxi     THE  MASAI  AND  OTHER  TRIBES        229 

question,  he  would  nudge  his  Prime  Minister  and 
command  him  to  answer  for  him.  I  managed  to 
induce  him  and  his  wives  and  children  to  sit  for  their 
photograph,  and  they  made  a  very  fine  group 
indeed  ;  but  unfortunately  the  negative  turned  out 


A   MASAI   CHIEF. 


very  badly.  I  also  got  Lenana's  nephew  and  a 
warrior  to  engage  in  combat  with  the  spear  and 
shield,  and  both  made  fine  play  with  their  long  keen 
blades,  which  more  than  once  penetrated  the  oppon- 
ent's shield. 

The    Masai    have    a    wonderfully    well-organised 
military  system.     The   warriors   (elmorani]   of  the 


230  THE  MAN-EATERS  OF  TSAVO          CHAP. 

tribe  must  attend  strictly  to  their  duties,  and  are 
not  allowed  to  marry  or  to  smoke  or  to  drink 
until  after  their  term  of  active  service  is  completed. 
Besides  the  spear  and  shield  they  generally  carry 
a  sword  or  knobkerrie,  suspended  from  a  raw-hide 
waist-belt  ;  and  they  certainly  look  very  ferocious  in 
their  weird-looking  head-dress  when  on  the  war- 
path. Once  or  twice  I  met  detachments  out  on 
these  expeditions,  but  they  were  always  quite 
friendly  to  me,  even  though  I  was  practically 
alone.  Before  the  advent  of  British  rule,  however, 
sudden  raids  were  constantly  being  made  by  them 
on  the  weaker  tribes  in  the  country  ;  and  when  a 
kraal  was  captured  all  the  male  defenders  were 
instantly  killed  with  the  spear,  while  the  women 
were  put  to  death  during  the  night  with  clubs.  The 
Masai,  indeed,  never  made  slaves  or  took  prisoners, 
and  it  was  their  proud  boast  that  where  a  party  of 
elmorani  had  passed,  nothing  of  any  kind  was  left 
alive.  The  object  of  these  raids  was,  of  course,  to 
capture  live  stock,  for  the  Masai  are  not  an  agri- 
cultural people  and  their  wealth  consists  entirely  in 
their  herds  of  cattle,  sheep  and  goats.  Curiously 
enough  they  do  not  hunt  game,  although  the  country 
abounds  with  it,  but  live  principally  on  beef  and 
milk  ;  and  it  is  also  a  common  custom  for  them  to 
drink  daily  a  pint  or  so  of  blood  taken  from  a  live 
bullock.  As  they  thus  live  entirely  on  cattle,  and 


XXI 


THE  MASAI  AND  OTHER  TRIBES 


231 


as  cattle  cannot  thrive  without  good  pasture,  it  is 
not  unnatural  to  find  that  they  have  a  great 
reverence  for  grass.  They  also  worship  a  Supreme 


MASAI    WARRIORS. 


Being  whom  they  call  N'gai,  but  this  term  is 
also  applied  to  anything  which  is  beyond  their 
understanding. 

Perhaps  the  most  curious  of  the  customs  of  the 


232 


THE  MAN-EATERS  OF  TSAVO          CHAP. 


Masai  is  the  extraction  of  the  two  front  teeth  from 
the  lower  jaw.  It  is  said  that  this  habit  originated 
at  a  time  when  lockjaw  was  very  prevalent  amono- 
the  tribe,  and  it  was  found  that  if  these  teeth 
were  pulled  out  food  could  still  be  taken.  This 

e  xplanation 
seems  scarcely 
sa  tisfactory 
or  sufficient, 
and  I  give  it 
only  for  what 
it  is  worth :  but 
whatever  the 
reason  for  the 
custom,  the  ab- 
sence of  these 
two  teeth  con- 
stitutes a  most 
distinct  ive 
i  de  nt  i  f  ying 
mark.  I  re- 
member once 
being  out  with 

a  Masai  one  day  when  we  came  across  the  bleached 
skull  of  a  long  defunct  member  of  his  tribe,  of  course 
easily  recognisable  as  such  by  the  absence  of  the 
proper  teeth.  The  Masai  at  once  plucked  a  hand- 
ful of  grass,  spat  upon  it,  and  then  placed  it  very 


MASAI    WOMAN 


XXI 


THE  MASAI  AND  OTHER  TRIBES 


233 


carefully  within  the  skull ;  this  was  done,  he  said, 
to  avert  evil  from  himself.  The  same  man  asked 
me  among  many  other  questions  if  my  country  was 
nearer  to  God  than  his.  I  am  afraid  I  was  unable 


MASAI   GIRLS. 


conscientiously  to  answer  him  in  the  affirmative. 
Formerly  the  Masai  used  to  spit  in  the  face  as  a 
mark  of  great  friendship,  but  nowadays — like  most 
other  native  races — they  have  adopted  our  English 
fashion  of  shaking  hands. 

Another  very  common  custom  amongst  them  is 


234 


THE  MAN-EATERS  OF  TSAVO 


CHAP. 


that  of  distorting  the  lobe  of  the  ear  by  stretching 
it  until  it  hangs  down  quite  five  or  six  inches.  It  is 
then  pierced  and  decorated  in  various  ways — by 
sticking  through  it  a  piece  of  wood  two  or  three 
inches  in  diameter,  or  a  little  round  tin  canister,  and 
by  hanging  to  it  pieces  of  chain,  rings,  beads,  or 


MASAI   WOMEN. 


bunches  of  brass-headed  nails,  according  to  fancy. 
Nearly  all  the  men  wear  little  bells  on  their  ankles 
to  give  notice  of  their  approach,  while  the  women 
are  very  fond  of  covering  themselves  with  large 
quantities  of  iron  or  copper  wire.  Their  limbs, 
indeed,  are  often  almost  completely  encased  with 
these  rings,  which  I  should  think  must  be  very 


XXI 


THE  MASAI  AND  OTHER  TRIBES 


235 


heavy  and  uncomfortable :  but  no  Masai  woman 
considers  herself  a  lady  of  fashion  without  them, 
and  the  more  she  possesses  the  higher  does  she 
stand  in  the  social  scale. 


N'DEROBBO  BOY. 


As  a  rule,  the  Masai  do  not  bury  their  dead,  as 
they  consider  this  custom  to  be  prejudicial  to  the 
soil  ;  the  bodies  are  simply  carried  some  little 


236 


THE  MAN-EATERS  OF  TSAVO 


CHAP. 


distance  from  the  village  and  left  to  be  devoured 
by  birds  and  wild  beasts.  The  honour  of  burial 
is  reserved  only  for  a  great  chief,  over  whose 


N'DEROBBO  «OY,  WITH  COLI.ABVS  MONKEY. 

remains  a  large  mound  is  also  raised.  I  came 
across  one  of  these  mounds  one  day  near  Tsavo 
and  opened  it  very  carefully,  but  found  nothing  : 
possibly  I  did  not  pursue  my  search  deep  enough 


XXI 


THE  MASAI  AND  OTHER  TRIBES 


237 


into  the  earth.  In  general,  the  Masai  are  an  up- 
right and  honourable  savage  race,  and  it  is  a  great 
pity  that  they  are  gradually  dying  out. 


N  DEROBBO   GIRL. 


More  or  less  serfs  of  the  Masai  are  the  Wa 
N'derobbo,  who,  unlike  their  over-lords,  are  a  race  of 
hunters.  They  are  seldom  to  be  met  with,  however, 
as  they  hide  away  in  caves  and  thickets,  and  keep 


238  THE  MAN-EATERS  OF  TSAVO          CHAP. 


constantly  moving  from  place  to  place  following  the 
game.  Not  long  ago  I  saw  a  few  of  them  in  the 
neighbourhood  of  the  Eldama  Ravine  :  but  these 
were  more  or  less  civilised,  and  the  girls,  who  were 
quite  graceful,  had  abandoned  the  native  undress 
costume  for  flowing  white  robes. 

In  the  district  from  Nairobi  to  the  Kedong 
River,  and  in  the  Kenya  Province,  dwell  the  Wa 
Kikuyu,  who  are  similar  to  the  Masai  in  build,  but 
not  nearly  so  good-looking.  Like  the  latter,  they 
use  the  spear  and  shield,  though  of  a  different 
shape  ;  their  principal  weapon,  however,  is  the  bow 
and  poisoned  arrow.  They  also  frequently  carry 
a  rudely  made  two-edged  short  sword  in  a  sheath, 
which  is  slung  round  the  waist  by  a  belt  of  raw 
hide.  Their  front  teeth  are  filed  to  a  sharp  point 
in  the  same  manner  as  those  of  nearly  all  the 
other  native  tribes  of  East  Africa,  with  the  excep- 
tion of  the  Masai.  They  live  in  little  villages 
composed  of  beehive  huts  and  always  situated  in 
the  very  thickest  patches  of  forest  that  they  can 
find,  and  their  cattle  kraals  are  especially  strongly 
built  and  carefully  hidden.  On  one  occasion  I 
managed  after  a  great  deal  of  difficulty  and  crawling 
on  all-fours  to  make  my  way  into  one  of  these 
kraals,  and  was  much  amazed  to  notice  what  labour 
and  ingenuity  had  been  expended  on  its  construc- 
tion. Unlike  the  Masai,  the  Wa  Kikuyu  have  a 


xxi          THE  MASAI  AND  OTHER  TRIBES          239 

fairly   good    idea    of   agriculture,   and    grow   crops 
of    m'tama    (a    kind    of  native    grain   from  which 


WA   KIKUYU. 


flour    is    made),    sugar-cane,    sweet    potatoes,    and 
tobacco. 


240 


THE  MAN-EATERS  OF  TSAVO 


CHAP. 


The  Wa  Kikuyu  have  the  reputation  of  being  a 
very  cowardly  and  treacherous  people,  and  they 
have  undoubtedly  committed  some  very  cruel  deeds. 
A  friend  of  mine,  Captain  Haslem,  with  whom  I 
lived  for  a  few  months  at  Tsavo,  was  barbarously 


WA    KIKUYU. 


murdered  by  some  members  of  this  tribe.  He  left 
me  to  go  up  to  the  Kikuyu  country  in  charge  of 
the  transport,  and  as  he  was  keenly  interested  in 
finding  out  all  about  the  tropical  diseases  from 
which  the  animals  suffered,  he  made  it  his  custom 
to  dissect  the  bodies  of  those  that  died.  The 
superstitious  Wa  Kikuyu  were  fully  convinced  that 


XXI 


THE  MASAI  AND  OTHER  TRIBES 


241 


by  this  he  bewitched  their  cattle,  which  at  the  time 
were  dying  in  scores  from  rinderpest.  So — in- 
stigated no  doubt  by  the  all-powerful  witch-doctor 
— they  treacherously  killed  him.  For  my  part, 
however,  I  found  them  not  nearly  so  black  as  they 


"THE  WOMEN  OF  THE  \VA  KIKUYU  CARRY  THE  HEAVY  LOADS." 

had  been  painted  to  me.  I  had  about  four  hundred 
of  them  working  at  one  thing  or  another  at  Nairobi 
and  never  had  any  trouble  with  them.  On  the 
contrary  I  found  them  well-behaved  and  intelligent 
and  most  anxious  to  learn. 

As  is  the  case  with  all  other  African  races,  the 
women  of  the  Wa  Kikuyu  do  the  manual  labour  of 

R 


242  THE  MAN-EATERS  OF  TSAVO      CH.  xxi 


the  village  and  carry  the  heavy  loads  for  their  lords 
and  masters,  the  bundles  being  held  in  position  on 
their  back  by  a  strap  passing  round  the  forehead. 

Notwithstanding  this  some  of  them  are  quite 
pleasant  looking,  and  once  they  have  overcome  their 
fear  of  the  European,  do  not  object  to  being  photo- 
graphed. 

Of  the  other  tribes  to  be  met  with  in  this  part 
of  the  world,  the  Kavirondo  are  the  most  interesting. 
They  are  an  industrious,  simple  people,  devoted 
to  agriculture  and  hospitable  in  the  extreme — a 
little  addicted  to  thieving,  perhaps,  but  then  that 
is  scarcely  considered  a  sin  in  the  heart  of  Africa. 
They  are  clothed  (to  use  Mark  Twain's  expression) 
in  little  but  a  smile,  a  bead  or  two  here  and  there 
being  considered  ample  raiment ;  nevertheless  they 
are  modest  in  their  ways  and  are  on  the  whole 
about  the  best  of  the  East  African  tribes. 


CHAPTER  XXII 

HOW    ROSHAN    KHAN    SAVED    MY    LIFE 

ON  May  12  railhead  reached  the  Athi  River, 
where,  as  there  was  a  great  deal  of  miscellaneous 
work  to  be  done,  our  headquarters  remained 
established  for  some  little  time.  One  day  not  long 
after  we  had  settled  down  in  our  new  camp,  I  was 
joined  quite  unexpectedly  by  my  friend  Dr.  Brock, 
who  had  shared  the  exciting  adventure  with  me  at 
Tsavo  the  night  we  were  attacked  in  the  goods- 
wagon  by  one  of  the  man-eaters.  Now  Brock  had 
so  far  not  been  fortunate  enough  to  bag  a  lion,  and 
was  consequently  most  anxious  to  do  so.  Shortly 
after  his  arrival,  accordingly,  he  suggested  that  we 
should  go  for  a  shooting  expedition  on  the  morrow, 
and  that  I  should  trot  out  for  his  benefit  one  of  the 
local  lions.  Of  course  I  said  I  should  be  delighted 
— I  was  always  ready  for  a  hunt  when  it  was 
possible  for  me  to  get  away,  and  as  just  at  the  time 
we  were  "  held  up "  by  the  Athi  River,  I  could 

R  2 


244  THE  MAN-EATERS  OF  TSAVO          CHAP. 

manage  a  day  off  quite  easily.  So  we  made  the 
usual  preparations  for  a  day's  absence  from  camp — 
filled  our  water-bottles  with  tea,  put  a  loaf  of  bread 
and  a  tin  of  sardines  in  our  haversacks,  looked  care- 
fully to  our  rifles  and  ammunition,  and  warned  the 
"boys"  who  were  to  accompany  us  as  beaters  to  be 
ready  before  dawn.  I  decided  to  make  a  very 
early  start,  as  I  knew  that  the  most  likely  place  for 
lions  lay  some  distance  away,  and  I  wanted  to  get 
there  if  possible  by  daybreak.  We  should  thus 
have  a  better  chance  of  catching  one  of  the  lords 
of  the  plain  as  he  returned  from  his  nightly 
depredations  to  the  kindly  shelter  of  the  tall  grass 
and  rushes  which  fringed  the  banks  of  the  river. 
We  therefore  retired  to  rest  early,  and  just  as  I  was 
dozing  off  to  sleep,  one  of  my  Indian  servants, 
Roshan  Khan,  put  his  head  through  the  slit  at  my 
tent  door  and  asked  leave  to  accompany  the  "  Sahibs" 
in  the  morning  so  that  he  might  see  what  shikar 
(hunting)  was  like.  This  request  I  sleepily  granted, 
thinking  that  it  could  make  little  difference  whether 
he  came  with  us  or  stayed  behind  in  camp.  As 
things  turned  out,  however,  it  made  all  the  differ- 
ence in  the  world,  for  if  he  had  not  accompanied 
us,  my  shikar  would  in  all  probability  have  ended 
disastrously  next  day.  He  was  a  very  dusky- 
coloured  young  Pathan  about  twenty  years  of  age, 
lithe  and  active,  and  honest  and  pleasant-looking, 


xxu     HOW  ROSHAN  KHAN  SAVED  MY  LIFE      245 

as  Pathans  go.  He  had  been  my  "boy"  for  some 
time  and  was  much  attached  to  me,  besides  having 
a  touching  faith  in  my  prowess  in  shikar :  probably, 
indeed,  this  was  the  reason  why  he  stuck  so  close  to 
me  throughout  the  hunt. 

We  breakfasted  by  candle  light  and  managed  to 
get  several  miles  on  our  way  towards  the  source 
of  the  Athi  before  dawn.  As  soon  as  it  was 
thoroughly  daylight,  we  extended  in  line,  Dr. 
Brock,  as  the  guest,  being  placed  in  the  most  likely 
position  for  a  shot,  while  Roshan  Khan  followed 
close  behind  me  with  the  day's  provisions.  In  this 
order  we  trudged  steadily  forward  for  a  couple  of 
miles  without  coming  across  anything,  though  we 
advanced  through  many  patches  of  rushes  and  long 
grass  likely  to  conceal  our  expected  quarry.  It  was 
most  interesting  and  exciting  work  all  the  same, 
as  we  never  knew  but  that  a  lion  might  the  next 
moment  jump  up  at  our  very  feet.  We  had  just 
beaten  through  a  most  hopeful-looking  covert  with- 
out success  and  had  come  out  on  to  a  beautiful  open 
grassy  glade  which  stretched  away  for  some  distance 
ahead  of  us,  when  I  noticed  a  big  herd  of  wilde- 
beeste  browsing  quietly  some  distance  to  our  right. 
I  knew  that  Brock  also  wanted  a  wildebeeste,  so  I 
whistled  softly  to  him,  and  pointed  out  the  weird- 
looking,  bison-like  antelopes.  He  came  across  at 
once  and  started  off  towards  the  herd,  while  I  sat 


246  THE  MAN-EATERS  OF  TSAVO          CHAP. 

down  to  watch  the  proceedings.  He  made  a 
beautiful  stalk,  which  was  rendered  really  very 
difficult  by  the  open  nature  of  the  country,  but 
still  the  wildebeeste  quickly  noticed  his  approach 
and  kept  steadily  moving  on,  until  at  last  they 
disappeared  over  one  of  the  gentle  rises  which  are 
such  a  feature  of  the  Athi  Plains. 

I  still  sat  and  waited,  expecting  every  moment  to 
hear  the  sound  of  Brock's  rifle.     Some  time  elapsed 
without  a  shot,  however,   and  I  was  just  about  to 
follow  him  up  and  find  out  how  things  were  going, 
when  Roshan  Khan  suddenly  exclaimed  excitedly  :— 
"  Dekko,  Sahib,  shenzi  ata  hain  /"     ("  Look,  Sahib, 
the  savages  are  coming  !  " ).      I  was  not  in  the  least 
alarmed  at  this  somewhat  startling  announcement, 
as  the  Indians  called  all  the  natives  of  the  interior 
of   Africa    shenzi,    or    savages  ;     and    on     looking 
round   I   saw  five  tall,  slim   Masai  approaching    in 
Indian    file,    each     carrying     a     six-foot    spear    in 
his   right  hand.     On  coming    nearer,  the  leader  of 
the  party   eagerly  asked    in  Swahili,    "What  does 
the  Bwana  Makubwa  ("  Great  Master  ")  desire  ? " 

"  Simba"  ("Lions"),  said  I. 

"Come,"  he  replied,  "  I  will  show  you  many." 

This  filled  me  with  interest  at  once.     "  How  far 
away  are  they  ?  "  I  asked. 

"  M'bali  kidogo  "  ("  A  little  distance  "),  came  the 
stereotyped  reply. 


xxn      HOW  ROSHAN  KHAN  SAVED  MY  LIFE      247 

I  immediately  had  a  good  look  round  for  Brock, 
but  could  see  no  sign  of  him,  so,  in  case  the  "  many  " 
lions  should  get  away  in  the  meantime,  I  told  the 
Masai  to  lead  the  way,  and  off  we  started. 

As  usual,  the  mbali  kidogo  proved  a  good  distance 
—over  two  miles  in  this  case.  Indeed,  I  began  to 
get  impatient  at  the  long  tramp,  and  called  out  to 
the  Masai  to  know  where  his  lions  were  ;  but  he 
vouchsafed  me  no  answer  and  continued  to  walk 
steadily  on,  casting  keen  glances  ahead.  After  a 
little  I  again  asked,  "  Where  are  the  lions  ?  "  This 
time  he  extended  his  spear  in  a  most  dramatic 
manner,  and  pointing  to  a  clump  of  trees  just  ahead, 
exclaimed  :  "  Look,  Master  ;  there  are  the  lions." 
I  looked,  and  at  once  caught  sight  of  a  lioness 
trotting  off  behind  the  bushes.  I  also  saw  some 
suspicious-looking  thing  at  the  foot  of  one  of  the  big 
trees,  but  came  to  the  conclusion  that  it  was  only 
a  growth  of  some  kind  projecting  from  the  trunk. 
I  was  soon  to  be  undeceived,  however,  for  as  I 
started  to  run  towards  the  trees  in  order  to  cut  off 
the  fast  disappearing  lioness  from  a  stretch  of  rushes 
for  which  she  was  making,  a  low  and  sinister  growl 
made  me  look  closer  at  the  object  which  had  first 
aroused  my  suspicions.  To  my  surprise  and  delight 
I  saw  that  it  was  the  head  of  a  huge  black-maned 
lion  peering  out  from  behind  the  trunk  of  the  tree, 
which  completely  hid  his  body.  I  pulled  up  short 


248  THE  MAN-EATERS  OF  TSAVO          CHAP. 

and  stared  at  him.  Although  he  was  not  seventy 
yards  away  from  me,  yet  owing  to  the  nature  of  the 
background  it  was  very  difficult  to  make  him  out, 
especially  as  he  kept  his  head  perfectly  still,  gazing 
steadily  at  me.  It  was  only  when  the  great  mouth 
opened  in  an  angry  snarl  that  I  could  see  plainly 
what  he  really  was.  For  a  few  seconds  we  stood 
thus  and  looked  at  each  other  ;  then  he  growled 
again  and  made  off  after  the  lioness.  As  I  could 
not  get  a  fair  shot  at  him  from  where  I  stood,  I  ran 
with  all  my  might  for  a  point  of  vantage  from  which 
I  might  have  a  better  chance  of  bagging  him  as  he 
passed. 

Now  by  this  time  I  had  almost  got  beyond  the 
surprise  stage  where  lions  were  concerned  ;  yet  I 
must  admit  that  I  was  thoroughly  startled  and 
brought  to  a  full  stop  in  the  middle  of  my  race 
by  seeing  no  less  than  four  more  lionesses  jump  up 
from  the  covert  which  the  lion  had  just  left.  In  the 
twinkling  of  an  eye  three  of  them  had  disappeared 
after  their  lord  in  long,  low  bounds,  but  the  fourth 
stood  broadside  on,  looking,  not  at  me,  but  at  my 
followers,  who  by  this  time  were  grouped  together 
and  talking  and  gesticulating  excitedly.  This  gave 
me  a  splendid  chance  for  a  shoulder  shot  at  about 
fifty  yards'  distance,  so  I  knelt  down  at  once  and 
fired  after  taking  careful  aim.  The  lioness  dis- 
appeared from  sight  instantly,  and  on  looking  over 


xxn     HOW  ROSHAN  KHAN  SAVED  MY  LIFE     249 

the  top  of  the  grass  I  saw  that  my  shot  had  told,  as 
she  was  on  her  back,  clawing  the  air  and  growling 
viciously.  As  she  looked  to  me  to  be  done  for,  I 
shouted  to  some  of  the  men  to  remain  behind  and 
watch  her,  wjiile  I  set  off  once  more  at  a  run  to  try 
to  catch  up  the  lion.  I  feared  that  the  check  with 
the  lioness  might  have  lost  him  to  me  altogether, 
but  to  my  relief  I  soon  caught  sight  of  him  again. 
He  had  not  made  off  very  quickly,  and  had  probably 
stopped  several  times  to  see  what  I  was  up  to ; 
indeed  the  men,  who  could  see  him  all  the  time, 
afterwards  told  me  that  when  he  heard  the  growl  of 
rage  from  the  lioness  after  she  was  shot,  he  made 
quite  a  long  halt,  apparently  deliberating  whether  he 
should  return  to  her  rescue.  Evidently,  however, 
he  had  decided  that  discretion  was  the  better  part  of 
valour.  Fortunately  he  was  travelling  leisurely, 
and  I  was  delighted  to  find  that  I  was  gaining  on 
him  fast ;  but  I  had  still  to  run  about  two  hundred 
yards  at  my  best  pace,  which,  at  an  altitude  of  more 
than  5,000  feet  above  sea-level,  leaves  one  very 
breathless  at  the  end  of  it. 

When  the  lion  perceived  me  running  towards 
him,  he  took  up  his  station  under  a  tree,  where  he 
was  half  hidden  by  some  low  bushes,  above  which 
only  his  head  showed.  Here  he  stood,  watching 
my  every  movement  and  giving  vent  to  his  anger 
at  my  presence  in  low,  threatening  growls.  I  did 


250  THE  MAN-EATERS  OF  TSAVO          CHAP. 

not  at  all  like  the  look  of  him,  and  if  there  had 
been  another  tree  close  by,  I  should  certainly  have 
scrambled  up  it  into  safety  before  attempting  to  fire. 
As  a  matter  of  fact,  however,  there  was  no  shelter 
of  any  kind  at  hand  ;  so,  as  I  meant  to  have  a  try 
for  him  at  all  costs,  I  sat  down  where  I  was,  about 
sixty  yards  from  him,  and  covered  his  great  head 
with  my  rifle.  I  was  so  breathless  after  my  run, 
and  my  arms  were  so  shaky,  that  it  was  all  I  could 
do  to  keep  the  sight  on  the  fierce-looking  target  ; 
and  I  thought  to  myself,  as  the  rifle  barrel  wobbled 
about,  "  If  I  don't  knock  him  over  with  the  first 
shot,  he  will  be  out  of  these  bushes  and  down  on 
me  like  greased  lightning — and  then  I  know  what 
to  expect."  It  was  a  most  exciting  moment,  but  in 
spite  of  the  risk  I  would  not  have  missed  it  for  the 
world ;  so,  taking  as  steady  an  aim  as  was  possible  in 
the  circumstances,  I  pulled  the  trigger.  Instantly 
the  shaggy  head  disappeared  from  view,  and  such  a 
succession  of  angry  roars  and  growls  came  up  out 
of  the  bushes  that  I  was  fairly  startled,  and  felt 
keenly  anxious  to  finish  him  off  before  he  could 
charge  out  and  cover  the  short  distance  which 
separated  us.  I  therefore  fired  half  a  dozen  shots 
into  the  bushes  at  the  spot  where  I  imagined  he  lay, 
and  soon  the  growling  and  commotion  ceased,  and 
all  was  still.  I  was  confident  the  brute  was  dead, 
so  I  called  up  one  of  the  men  to  stay  and  watch  the 


xxn     HOW  ROSHAN  KHAN  SAVED  MY  LIFE     251 

place,  while  I  again  rushed  off  at  full  speed — jump- 
ing over  such  rocks  and  bushes  as  came  in  my  way 
— to  have  a  shot  at  a  lioness  that  was  still  in  sight. 

By  this  time  my  followers  numbered  about  thirty 
men,  as  when  one  is  hunting  in  these  plains  natives 
seem  to  spring  from  nowhere  in  the  most  mysterious 
manner,  and  attach  themselves  to  one  in  the  hope  of 
obtaining  some  portion  of  the  kill.  By  signal  I 
ordered  them  to  advance  in  line  on  the  thicket  in 
which  the  lioness  had  just  taken  refuge,  while  I  took 
up  my  position  on  one  side,  so  as  to  obtain  a  good 
shot  when  she  broke  covert.  The  line  of  natives 
shouting  their  native  cries  and  striking  their  spears 
together  soon  disturbed  her,  and  out  she  sprang 
into  the  open,  making  for  a  clump  of  rushes  close 
to  the  river.  Unfortunately  she  broke  out  at  the 
most  unfavourable  spot  from  my  point  of  view,  as 
some  of  the  natives  masked  my  fire,  and  I  had 
consequently  to  wait  until  she  got  almost  to  the 
edge  of  the  rushes.  Whether  or  not  I  hit  her  then 
I  cannot  say ;  at  any  rate,  she  made  good  her 
escape  into  the  reeds,  where  I  decided  to  leave  her 
until  Brock  should  arrive. 

I  now  retraced  my  steps  towards  the  spot  where 
I  had  shot  the  lion,  expecting,  of  course,  to  find  the 
man  I  had  told  to  watch  him  still  on  guard.  To 
my  intense  vexation,  however,  I  found  that  my 
sentry  had  deserted  his  post  and  had  joined  the 


252  THE  MAN-EATERS  OF  TSAVO          CHAP. 

other  men  of  the  party,  having  become  frightened 
when    left    by    himself.       The    result    of    his    dis- 
obedience was  that  now  I   could  not  tell  where  lay 
the  dead  lion — or,  rather,  the  lion  which  I  believed  to 
be  dead  ;  but  I  had  no  intention  of  losing  so  fine  a 
trophy,  so  I  began  a  systematic  search,  dividing  the 
jungle  into  strips,   and  thus  going  over  the  whole 
place  thoroughly.   The  task  of  finding  him,  however, 
was  not  so  easy  as  might  be  thought  ;  the  chase  after 
the  lioness  had  taken  us  some  distance  from  where 
I  had  shot  him,  and  as  there  were  numbers  of  trees 
about  similar  to  that  under   which   he   fell,    it   was 
really  a  very  difficult  matter  to  hit  upon  the  right 
place.     At  last  one  of  the  men  sang  out  joyfully  that 
he    had  found  the  lion — at  the  same  time  running 
away  from  the  spot  as  hard  as  ever  he  could.     A 
number  of  those  nearest  to  him,  both  Indians  and 
natives,  had  more  courage  or  curiosity,  and  went  up 
to  have  a  look  at  the  beast.      I  shouted  to  them  as 
I  hurried  along  to  be  careful  and  not  to  go  too  near, 
in  case  by  any  chance  he  might  not  be   dead  ;  but 
they  paid   little   heed  to  the   warning,  and  by  the 
time    I    got    up,    some    half-dozen    of  them    were 
gathered  in  a  group  at  the  lion's  tail,  gesticulating 
wildly  and  chattering  each  in  his  own  language,  and 
all  very  pleased  and  excited.     On   getting   near  I 
asked  if  the  lion  was  dead,   and   was  told   that  he 
was  nearly  so,  but  that  he  still   breathed.     He  was 


xxii      HOW  ROSHAN  KHAN  SAVED  MY  LIFE     253 

lying  at  full  length  on  his  side,  and  when  I  saw  him 
at  close  quarters  I  was  more  delighted  than  I  can 
tell,  for  he  was  indeed  a  very  fine  specimen.  For  a 
moment  or  two  I  stood  with  the  group  of  natives, 
admiring  him.  He  still  breathed  regularly,  as  his 
flanks  heaved  with  each  respiration  ;  but  as  he  lay 
absolutely  still  with  all  the  men  jabbering  within  a 
yard  of  him,  I  assumed  that  he  was  on  the  point  of 
death  and  unable  to  rise.  Possessed  with  this 
belief,  I  very  foolishly  allowed  my  curiosity  to  run 
away  with  my  caution,  and  stepped  round  to  have  a 
look  at  his  head.  The  moment  I  came  into  his 
view,  however,  he  suddenly  became  possessed  of  a 
diabolical  ferocity.  With  a  great  roar  he  sprang  to 
his  feet,  as  if  he  were  quite  unhurt ;  his  eyes  blazed 
with  fury,  and  his  lips  were  drawn  well  back, 
exposing  his  tusks  and  teeth  in  a  way  I  hope  never 
to  witness  again.  When  this  perilous  situation  so 
unexpectedly  developed  itself,  I  was  not  more  than 
three  paces  away  from  him. 

The  instant  the  lion  rose,  all  the  men  fled  as  if 
the  Evil  One  himself  were  after  them,  and  made  for 
the  nearest  trees — with  one  exception,  for  as  I  took 
a  step  backwards,  keeping  my  eye  on  the  infuriated 
animal,  I  almost  trod  on  Roshan  Khan,  who  had 
still  remained  close  behind  me.  Fortunately  for 
me,  I  had  approached  the  lion's  head  with  my  rifle 
ready,  and  as  I  stepped  back  I  fired.  The  impact 


254  THE  MAN-EATERS  OF  TSAVO          CHAP. 

of  the  "303  bullet  threw  him  back  on  his  haunches 
just  as  he  was  in  the  act  of  springing,  but  in  an 
instant  he  was  up  again  and  coming  for  me  so 
quickly  that  I  had  not  even  time  to  raise  my  rifle  to 
my  shoulder,  but  fired  point  blank  at  him  from  my 
hip,  delaying  him  for  a  second  or  so  as  before.  He 
was  up  again  like  lightning,  and  again  at  the 
muzzle  of  my  rifle  ;  and  this  time  I  thought  that 
nothing  on  earth  could  save  me,  as  I  was  almost 
within  his  clutches.  Help  came  from  an  unexpected 
and  unconscious  quarter,  for  just  at  this  critical 
moment  Roshan  Khan  seemed  all  at  once  to  realise 
the  danger  of  the  situation,  and  suddenly  fled  for 
his  life,  screaming  and  shrieking  with  all  his  might. 
Beyond  all  question  this  movement  saved  me,  for  the 
sight  of  something  darting  away  from  him  diverted 
the  lion's  attention  from  me,  and  following  his 
natural  instinct,  he  gave  chase  instead  to  the  yelling 
fugitive. 

Roshan  Khan  having  thus  unwittingly  rescued 
me  from  my  perilous  position,  it  now  became  my  turn 
to  do  all  I  could  to  save  him,  if  this  were  possible. 
In  far  less  time  than  it  takes  to  tell  the  story,  I  had 
swung  round  after  the  pursuing  lion,  levelled  my 
rifle  and  fired  ;  but  whether  because  of  the  speed  at 
which  he  was  going,  or  because  of  my  over-anxiety 
to  save  my  "  boy ",  I  missed  him  completely,  and 
saw  the  bullet  raise  the  dust  at  the  heels  of  a 


xxii      HOW  ROSHAN  KHAN  SAVED  MY  LIFE     255 

flying  Masai.  Like  lightning  I  loaded  again  from 
the  magazine,  but  now  the  lion  was  within  a  spring 
of  his  prey,  and  it  seemed  hopeless  to  expect  to 
save  poor  Roshan  Khan  from  his  clutches.  Just  at 
this  moment,  however,  the  terrified  youth  caught 
sight  of  the  brute  over  his  left  shoulder,  and 
providentially  made  a  quick  swerve  to  the  right. 
As  the  lion  turned  to  follow  him,  he  came  broadside 
on  to  me,  and  just  as  he  had  Roshan  Khan  within 
striking  distance  and  was  about  to  seize  him,  he 
dropped  in  the  middle  of  what  would  otherwise 
assuredly  have  been  the  fatal  spring — bowled  over 
with  a  broken  shoulder.  This  gave  me  time  to  run 
up  and  give  him  a  final  shot,  and  with  a  deep  roar 
he  fell  back  full  length  on  the  grass,  stone-dead. 

I  then  looked  round  to  see  if  Roshan  Khan  was 
all  right,  as  I  was  not  sure  whether  the  lion  had 
succeeded  in  mauling  him  or  not.  The  sight  that 
met  my  eyes  turned  tragedy  into  comedy  in  an 
instant,  and  made  me  roar  with  laughter;  indeed,  it 
was  so  utterly  absurd  that  I  threw  myself  down  on 
the  grass  and  rolled  over  and  over,  convulsed  with 
uncontrollable  mirth.  For  there  was  Roshan  Khan, 
half-way  up  a  thorn  tree,  earnestly  bent  on  getting 
to  the  very  topmost  branch  as  quickly  as  ever  he 
could  climb  ;  not  a  moment,  indeed,  was  he  able 
to  spare  to  cast  a  glance  at  what  "was  happening 
beneath.  His  puggaree  had  been  torn  off  by  one 


256  THE  MAN-EATERS  OF  TSAVO          CHAP. 

thorn,  and  waved  gracefully  in  the  breeze ;  a  fancy 
waistcoat  adorned  another  spiky  branch,  and  his 
long  white  cotton  gown  was  torn  to  ribbons  in  his 
mad  endeavour  to  put  as  great  a  distance  as  possible 
between  himself  and  the  dead  lion.  As  soon  as  I 
could  stop  laughing,  I  called  out  to  him  to  come 
down,  but  quite  in  vain.  There  was  no  stopping 
him,  indeed,  until  he  had  reached  the  very  top  of 
the  tree ;  and  even  then  he  could  scarcely  be  in- 
duced to  come  down  again.  Poor  fellow,  he  had 
been  thoroughly  terrified,  and  little  wonder. 

My  followers  now  began  to  emerge  from  the 
shelter  of  the  various  trees  and  bushes  where 
they  had  concealed  themselves  after  their  wild 
flight  from  the  resuscitated  lion,  and  crowded  round 
his  dead  body  in  the  highest  spirits.  The  Masai, 
especially,  seemed  delighted  at  the  way  in  which  he 
had  been  defeated,  and  to  my  surprise  and  amuse- 
ment proved  themselves  excellent  mimics,  some 
three  or  four  of  them  beginning  at  once  to  act  the 
whole  adventure.  One  played  the  part  of  the  lion 
and  jumped  growling  at  a  comrade,  who  immediately 
ran  backwards  just  as  I  had  done,  shouting  "  Ta, 
Ta,  Ta  "  and  cracking  his  fingers  to  represent  the 
rifle-shots.  Finally  the  whole  audience  roared  with 
delight  when  another  bolted  as  fast  as  he  could  to 
Roshan  Khan's  tree  with  the  pseudo  lion  roaring 
after  him.  At  the  end  of  these  proceedings  up  came 


xxii     HOW  ROSHAN  KHAN  SAVED  MY  LIFE     257 

Brock,  who  had  been  attracted  to  the  place  by  the 
sound  of  the  firing.  He  was  much  astonished  to 
see  my  fine  dead  lion  lying  stretched  out,  and  his 
first  remark  was,  "  You  are  a  lucky  beggar  !  "  After- 
wards, when  he  heard  the  full  story  of  the  adventure, 
he  rightly  considered  me  even  more  lucky  than  he 
had  first  thought. 

Our  next  business  was  to  go  back  to  the  lioness 
which  I  had  first  shot  and  left  for  dead.  Like  her 
mate,  however,  she  was  still  very  much  alive  when 
we  reached  her,  so  I  stalked  carefully  up  to  a 
neighbouring  tree,  from  whose  shelter  I  gave  her 
the  finishing  shot.  We  then  left  Mahina  and  the 
other  men  to  skin  the  two  beasts,  and  went  on  to 
the  rushes  where  the  second  lioness  had  taken  cover. 
Here  all  our  efforts  to  turn  her  out  failed,  so  we 
reluctantly  abandoned  the  chase  and  were  fated  to 
see  no  more  lions  that  day. 

Our  only  other  adventure  was  with  a  stolid  old 
rhino,  who  gave  me  rather  a  fright  and  induced  Brock 
to  indulge  in  some  lively  exercise.  Separated  by 
about  a  hundred  yards  or  so,  we  were  walking  over 
the  undulating  ground  a  short  distance  from  the  river, 
when,  on  gaining  the  top  of  a  gentle  rise,  I  suddenly 
came  upon  the  ungainly  animal  as  it  lay  wallowing 
in  a  hollow.  It  jumped  to  its  feet  instantly  and  came 
for  where  I  stood,  and  as  I  had  no  wish  to  shoot  it, 
I  made  a  dash  for  cover  round  the  knoll.  On  reaching 

s 


258  THE  MAN-EATERS  OF  TSAVO          CHAP. 

the  top  of  the  rise,  the  rhino  winded  my  companion 
and  at  once  changed  its  direction  and  made  for  him. 
Brock  lost  no  time  in  putting  on  his  best  pace  in 
an  endeavour  to  reach  the  shelter  of  a  tree  which 
stood  some  distance  off,  while  I  sat  down  and 
watched  the  exciting  race.  I  thought  it  would  be 
a  pretty  close  thing,  but  felt  confident  that  Brock, 
who  was  very  active,  would  manage  to  pull  it  off. 
When  he  got  about  half-way  to  the  tree,  however, 
he  turned  to  see  how  far  his  pursuer  was  behind,  and 
in  doing  so  put  his  foot  in  a  hole  in  the  ground,  and  to 
my  horror  fell  head  over  heels,  his  rifle  flying  from 
his  grasp.  I  expected  the  great  brute  to  be  on  him 
in  a  moment,  but  to  my  intense  relief  the  old  rhino 
stopped  dead  when  he  saw  the  catastrophe  which 
had  taken  place, and  then,  failing  (I  suppose)  to  under- 
stand it,  suddenly  made  off  in  the  opposite  direction 
as  hard  as  he  could  go.  In  the  meantime  Brock  had 
got  to  his  feet  again,  and  raced  for  dear  life  to  the 
tree  without  ever  looking  round.  It  was  a  most 
comical  sight,  and  I  sat  on  the  rise  and  for  the 
second  time  that  day  laughed  till  my  sides  ached. 

After  this  we  returned  to  the  scene  of  my  morn- 
ing's adventure,  where  we  found  that  the  invaluable 
Mahina  had  finished  skinning  the  two  lions.  We 
accordingly  made  our  way  back  to  camp  with  our 
trophies,  all  of  us,  with  perhaps  the  exception  of 
Roshan  Khan,  well  satisfied  with  the  day's  outing. 


xxii     HOW  ROSHAN  KHAN  SAVED  MY  LIFE      259 

Whenever  afterwards  I  wanted  to  chaff  this  "  boy  ", 
I  had  only  to  ask  whether  he  would  like  to  come 
and  see  some  more  shikar.  He  would  then  look 
very  solemn,  shake  his  head  emphatically  and  assure 
me  "  Kabhi  nahin,  Sahib  "  ("  Never  again,  Sir  "). 


s  2 


CHAPTER   XXIII 

A    SUCCESSFUL    LION    HUNT 

WHEN  the  Athi  river  had  been  bridged,  the 
section  of  the  line  to  Nairobi  was  pushed  forward  as 
rapidly  as  possible,  and  from  dawn  to  dark  we  all 
exerted  ourselves  to  the  very  utmost.  One  day 
(May  28)  the  weather  was  exceptionally  hot,  and  I 
had  been  out  in  the  broiling  sun  ever  since  daylight 
superintending  the  construction  of  banks  and 
cuttings  and  the  erection  of  temporary  bridges.  On 
returning  to  my  hut,  therefore,  at  about  three  o'clock 
in  the  afternoon,  I  threw  myself  into  a  long  deck 
chair,  too  tired  for  anything  beyond  a  long  cool 
drink.  Here  I  rested  for  an  hour  or  so,  amused  by 
the  bustle  at  the  small  wayside  station  we  had  just 
built,  and  idly  watching  our  tiny  construction  engine 
forging  its  -way,  with  a  great  deal  of  clanking  and 
puffing,  up  a  steep  gradient  just  across  the  river. 
It  was  touch-and-go  whether  it  would  manage  to 
get  its  heavy  load  of  rails  and  sleepers  to  the  top  of 


CH.  xxiii       A  SUCCESSFUL  LION  HUNT  261 

the  incline  or  not,  and  I  became  so  interested  in  the 
contest  between  steam  and  friction  and  gravity, 
that  I  did  not  notice  that  a  visitor  had  approached 
and  was  standing  quietly  beside  me. 

On  hearing  the  usual  salutation,  however,  I  turned 
round  and  saw  a  lean  and  withered  half-bred  Masai, 
clothed  in  a  very  inadequate  piece  of  wildebeeste  hide 
which  was  merely  slipped  under  the  left  arm  and 
looped  up  in  a  knot  over  the  right  shoulder.  He 
stood  for  a  moment  with  the  right  hand  held  out  on 
a  level  with  his  shoulder,  the  fingers  extended  and 
the  palm  turned  towards  me — all  indicating  that  he 
came  on  a  friendly  visit.  I  returned  his  salutation, 
and  asked  him  what  he  wanted.  Before  answering, 
he  dropped  down  on  his  heels,  his  old  bones  cracking 
as  he  did  so.  "  I  want  to  lead  the  Great  Master  to 
two  lions,"  he  said;  "  they  have  just  killed  a  zebra 
and  are  now  devouring  it."  On  hearing  this  I 
straightway  forgot  that  I  had  already  done  a  hard 
day's  work  in  the  full  blaze  of  an  equatorial  sun  ;  I 
forgot  that  I  was  tired  and  hungry  ;  in  fact,  I  forgot 
everything  that  was  not  directly  connected  with  the 
excitement  of  lion-hunting.  Even  the  old  savage 
at  my  feet  grinned  when  he  saw  how  keen  I  was 
about  it.'  I  plied  him  with  questions — were  they 
both  lions  or  lionesses  ?  had  they  manes  ?  how  far 
away  were  they?  and  so  on.  Naturally,  to  the  last 
question  he  was  bound  to  answer  "  fyrbali  kidogo" 


262  THE  MAN-EATERS  OF  TSAVO          CHAP. 

Of  course  they  were  not  far  away  ;  nothing  ever  is 
to  a  native  of  East  Africa.  However,  the  upshot 
was  that  in  a  very  few  minutes  I  had  a  mule  saddled, 
and  with  the  old  Masai  as  guide,  started  off  accom- 
panied by  my  faithful  Mahina  and  another  coolie 
to  help  to  bring  home  the  skin  if  I  should  prove 
successful.  I  also  left  word  for  my  friend  Spooner, 
the  District  Engineer,  who  happened  to  be  absent 
from  camp  just  at  the  moment,  that  I  had  gone 
after  two  lions,  but  hoped  to  be  back  by  nightfall. 

We  travelled  at  a  good  pace,  and  within  an  hour 
had  covered  fully  six  miles  ;  still  there  was  no  sign 
of  lions.  On  the  way  we  were  joined  by  some 
Wa  Kamba,  even  more  scantily  attired  than  our 
guide,  and  soon  a  dispute  arose  between  these 
hangers-on  and  the  old  Masai,  who  refused  to  allow 
them  to  accompany  us,  as  he  was  afraid  that  they 
would  seize  all  the  zebra-meat  that  the  lions  had  not 
already  eaten.  However,  I  told  him  not  to  bother, 
but  to  hurry  up  and  show  me  the  lions,  and  that  I 
would  look  after  him  all  right.  Eventually,  on 
getting  to  the  low  crest  of  one  of  the  long  swells  in 
the  ground,  our  guide  extended  a  long  skinny  finger 
and  said  proudly,  "  Tazama,  Bwana "  ("  See, 
Master").  I  looked  in  the  direction  in  which  he 
pointed,  and  sure  enough,  about  six  hundred  yards 
off  were  a  lion  and  a  lioness  busily  engaged  on  the 
carcase  of  a  zebra.  On  using  my  field-glasses,  I 


xxin  A  SUCCESSFUL  LION  HUNT  263 

was  amused  to  observe  a  jackal  in  attendance  on 
the  pair.  Every  now  and  then  he  would  come  too 
close  to  the  zebra,  when  the  lion  would  make  a 
short  rush  at  him  and  scare  him  away.  The  little 
jackal  looked  most  ridiculous,  scampering  off  before 
the  huge  beast  with  his  tail  well  down  ;  but  no 
sooner  did  the  lion  stop  and  return  to  his  meal 
than  he  crept  nearer  again.  The  natives  say,  by 
the  way,  that  a  lion  will  eat  every  kind  of  animal- 
including  even  other  lions — except  a  jackal  or  a 
hyaena.  I  was  also  interested  to  notice  the  way  in 
which  the  lion  got  at  the  flesh  of  the  zebra  ;  he  took 
a  short  run  at  the  body,  and  putting  his  claws  well 
into  the  skin,  in  this  manner  tore  off  great  strips  of 
the  hide. 

While  I  was  thus  studying  the  picture,  my 
followers  became  impatient  at  my  inactivity,  and 
coming  up  to  the  top  of  the  rise,  showed  them- 
selves on  the  sky-line.  The  lions  saw  them  at  once, 
turning  round  and  standing  erect  to  stare  at  them. 
There  was  not  an  atom  of  cover  to  be  seen,  nor 
any  chance  of  taking  advantage  of  the  rolling 
ground,  for  it  did  not  slope  in  the  required  direction  ; 
so  I  started  to  walk  in  the  open  in  a  sidelong 
direction  towards  the  formidable-looking  pair.  They 
allowed  me  to  come  a  hundred  yards  or  so  nearer 
them,  and  then  the  lioness  bolted,  the  lion  following 
her  at  a  more  leisurely  trot.  As  soon  as  they  left 


264  THE  MAN-EATERS  OF  TSAVO          CHAP. 

the  body  of  the  zebra,  my  African  following  made  a 
rush  for  it,  and  began  a  fierce  fight  over  the  remains, 
so  that  I  had  to  restore  order  and  leave  a  coolie 
to  see  that  our  guide  got  the  largest  share,  as  he 
deserved.  In  the  meantime  the  lion,  hearing  the 

7  o 

noise  of  the  squabble,  halted  on  the  crest  of  the 
hill  to  take  a  deliberate  look  at  me,  and  then  dis- 
appeared over  the  brow.  I  jumped  on  to  my  mule 
and  galloped  as  hard  as  I  could  after  him,  and 
luckily  found  the  pair  still  in  sight  when  I  reached 
the  top  of  the  rise.  As  soon  as  they  saw  me 
following  them  up,  the  lioness  took  covert  in  some 
long  grass  that  almost  concealed  her  when  she  lay 
down,  but  the  lion  continued  to  move  steadily  away. 
Accordingly  I  made  for  a  point  which  would  bring 
me  about  two  hundred  yards  to  the  right  of  the 
lioness,  and  which  would  leave  a  deep  natural  hollow 
between  us,  so  as  to  give  me  a  better  chance,  in  the 
event  of  a  charge,  of  bowling  her  over  as  she  came 
up  the  rise  towards  me.  I  could  plainly  make  out 
her  light-coloured  form  in  the  grass,  and  took  careful 
aim  and  fired.  In  an  instant  she  was  kicking  on  her 
back  and  tossing  about,  evidently  hard  hit ;  in  a  few 
seconds  more  she  lay  perfectly  still,  and  I  saw  that 
she  was  dead. 

I  now  turned  my  attention  to  the  lion,  who  mean- 
while had  disappeared  over  another  rise.  By  this 
time  Mahina  and  the  other  Indian,  with  three  or 


xxni  A  SUCCESSFUL  LION  HUNT  265 

four  of  the  disappointed  Wa  Kamba,  had  come 
up,  so  we  started  off  in  a  body  in  pursuit  of  him.  I 
felt  sure  that  he  was  lurking  somewhere  in  the 
grass  not  far  off,  and  I  knew  that  I  could  depend 
upon  the  native  eye  to  find  him  if  he  showed  so 
much  as  the  tip  of  his  ear.  Nor  was  I  disappointed, 
for  we  had  scarcely  topped  the  next  rise  when  one 
of  the  Wa  Kamba  spotted  the  dark  brown  head  of 
the  brute  as  he  raised  it  for  an  instant  above  the 
grass  in  order  to  watch  us.  We  pretended  not  to 
have  seen  him,  however,  and  advanced  to  within  two 
hundred  yards  or  so,  when,  as  he  seemed  to  be 
getting  uneasy,  I  thought  it  best  to  risk  a  shot  even 
at  this  range.  I  put  up  the  2ooyards  sight  and  the 
bullet  fell  short  ;  but  the  lion  never  moved.  Raising 
the  sight  another  fifty  yards,  I  rested  the  rifle  on 
Mahina's  back  for  the  next  shot,  and  again  missed  ; 
fortunately,  however,  the  lion  still  remained  quiet.  I 
then  decided  to  put  into  practice  the  scheme  I  had 
thought  out  the  day  I  sat  astride  the  lion  I  had 
killed  on  the  Kapiti  Plain  :  so  I  told  all  my  followers 
to  move  off  to  the  right,  taking  the  mule  with  them, 
and  to  make  a  half-circle  round  the  animal,  while 
I  lay  motionless  in  the  grass  and  waited.  The  ruse 
succeeded  admirably,  for  as  the  men  moved  round 
so  did  the  lion,  offering  me  at  last  a  splendid  shoulder 
shot.  I  took  very  careful,  steady  aim  and  fired, 
with  the  result  that  he  rolled  over  and  over,  and 


266  THE  MAN-EATERS  OF  TSAVO          CHAP. 


then  made  one  or  two  attempts  to  get  up  but  failed. 
I  then  ran  up  to  within  a  few  yards  of  him,  and— 
helpless  as  he  was  with  a  bullet  through  both 
shoulders — he  was  still  game,  and  twisted  round  so 
as  to  face  me,  giving  vent  all  the  time  to  savage 
growls.  A  final  shot  laid  him  out,  however,  and 
we  at  once  proceeded  to  skin  him.  While  we  were 
busy  doing  this,  one  of  the  Wa  Kamba  suddenly 
drew  my  attention  to  the  fact  that  we  were  actually 
being  stalked  at  that  very  moment  by  two  other 
lions,  who  eventually  approached  to  within  five  hun- 
dred yards'  distance  and  then  lay  down  to  watch  us 
skinning  their  dead  brother,  their  big  shaggy  heads 
rising  every  now  and  again  above  the  grass  to  give 
us  a  prolonged  stare.  At  the  time  I  little  knew 
what  a  stirring  adventure  was  in  store  for  me  next 
day  while  in  pursuit  of  these  same  brutes. 

It  was  almost  dark  when  the  skinning  process 
was  finished,  so  without  delay  we  started  on  our  way 
back  to  camp,  which  was  about  seven  miles  off.  The 
lioness  I  thought  I  should  leave  to  be  skinned  the 
next  day  ;  but  the  men  I  sent  out  to  do  the  job  on 
the  morrow  were  unable  to  find  any  trace  of  her— 
they  probably  missed  the  place  where  she  lay,  for  I 
am  sure  that  I  killed  her.  It  was  a  good  two  hours 
after  night  had  fallen  before  we  got  anywhere  near 
the  railway,  and  the  last  few  miles  I  was  obliged  to 
do  by  the  guidance  of  the  stars.  Tramping  over 


xxin  A  SUCCESSFUL  LION  HUNT  267 

the  plain  on  a  pitch-dark  night,  with  lions  and  rhino 
all  about,  was  by  no  means  pleasant  work,  and  I 
heartily  wished  myself  and  my  men  safely  back  in 
camp.  Indeed,  I  was  beginning  to  think  that  I 
must  have  lost  my  bearings  and  was  getting  anxious 
about  it,  when  to  my  relief  I  heard  a  rifle  shot  about 
half  a  mile  ahead  of  us.  I  guessed  at  once  that  it  was 
fired  by  my  good  friend  Spooner  in  order  to  guide 
me,  so  I  gave  a  reply  signal  ;  and  on  getting  to 
the  top  of  the  next  rise,  I  saw  the  plain  in  front  of 
me  all  twinkling  with  lights.  When  he  found  that 
I  had  not  returned  by  nightfall,  Spooner  had 
become  nervous  about  me,  and  fearing  that  I  had 
met  with  some  mishap,  had  come  out  with  a  number 
of  the  workmen  in  camp  to  search  for  me  in  the 
direction  I  had  taken  in  the  afternoon.  He  was 
delighted  to  find  me  safe  and  sound  and  with  a 
lion's  skin  as  a  trophy,  while  I  was  equally  glad 
to  have  his  escort  and  company  back  to  camp, 
which  was  still  over  a  mile  away. 

When  we  had  settled  down  comfortably  to  dinner 
that  night,  I  fired  Spooner's  sporting  ardour  by 
telling  him  of  the  fine  pair  of  lions  who  had 
watched  us  skinning  their  companion,  and  we  agreed 
at  once  to  go  out  next  day  and  try  to  bag  them 
both.  Spooner  and  I  had  often  had  many  friendly 
arguments  in  regard  to  the  comparative  courage  of 
the  lion  and  the  tiger,  he  holding  the  view  that 


268 


THE  MAN-EATERS  OF  TSAVO     CH.  xxm 


"Stripes"  was  the  more  formidable  foe,  while  I, 
though  admitting  to  the  full  the  courage  of  the  tiger, 
maintained  from  lively  personal  experience  that  the 
lion  when  once  roused  was  unequalled  for  pluck  and 
daring,  and  was  in  fact  the  most  dangerous  enemy 
one  could  meet  with.  He  may  at  times  slink  off 
and  not  show  fight ;  but  get  him  in  the  mood,  or 
wound  him,  and  only  his  death  or  yours  will  end 
the  fray — that,  at  least,  was  my  experience  of  East 
African  lions.  I  think  that  Spooner  has  now  come 
round  to  my  opinion,  his  conversion  taking  place  the 
next  day  in  a  very  melancholy  manner. 


CHAPTER  XXIV 

BHOOTA'S  LAST  SHIKAR 

LONG  after  I  had  retired  to  rest  that  night  I  lay 
awake  listening  to  roar  answering  roar  in  every 
direction  round  our  camp,  and  realised  that  we  were 
indeed  in  the  midst  of  a  favourite  haunt  of  the  king 
of  beasts.  It  is  one  thing  to  hear  a  lion  in  captivity, 
when  one  knows  he  is  safe  behind  iron  bars  ;  but 
quite  another  to  listen  to  him  when  he  is  ramping 
around  in  the  vicinity  of  one's  fragile  tent,  which 
with  a  single  blow  he  could  tear  to  pieces.  Still, 
all  this  roaring  was  of  good  omen  for  the  next 
day's  sport. 

According  to  our  over-night  arrangement,  we 
were  up  betimes  in  the  morning,  but  as  there  was  a 
great  deal  of  work  to  be  done  before  we  could  get 
away,  it  was  quite  midday  before  we  made  ready  to 
start.  I  ought  to  mention  before  going  further  that 
as  a  rule  Spooner  declined  my  company  on  shooting 
trips,  as  he  was  convinced  that  I  should  get 


270  THE  MAN-EATERS  OF  TSAVO          CHAP. 

"  scuppered  "  sooner  or  later  if  I  persisted  in  going 
after  lions  with  a  "  popgun,"  as  he  contemptuously 
termed  my  '303.  Indeed,  this  was  rather  a  bone  of 
contention  between  us,  he  being  a  firm  believer  (and 
rightly)  in  a  heavy  weapon  for  big  and  dangerous 
game,  while  I  always  did  my  best  to  defend  the 
•303  which  I  was  in  the  habit  of  using.  On  this 
occasion  we  effected  a  compromise  for  the  day,  I 
accepting  the  loan  of  his  spare  12 -bore  rifle  as  a 
second  gun  in  case  I  should  get  to  close  quarters. 
But  my  experience  has  been  that  it  is  always  a  very 
dangerous  thing  to  rely  on  a  borrowed  gun  or  rifle, 
unless  it  has  precisely  the  same  action  as  one's 
own  ;  and  certainly  in  this  instance  it  almost  proved 
disastrous. 

Having  thus  seen  to  our  rifles  and  ammunition 
and  taken  care  also  that  some  brandy  was  put  in  the 
luncheon-basket  in  case  of  an  accident,  we  set  off 
early  in  the  afternoon  in  Spooner's  tonga,  which  is  a 
two-wheeled  cart  with  a  hood  over  it.  The  party 
consisted  of  Spooner  and  myself,  Spooner's  Indian 
shikari  Bhoota,  my  own  gun-boy  Mahina,  and  two 
other  Indians,  one  of  whom,  Imam  Din,  rode  in  the 
tonga,  while  the  other  led  a  spare  horse  called 
"  Blazeaway."  Now  it  may  seem  a  strange  plan  to 
go  lion-hunting  in  a  tonga,  but  there  is  no  better 
way  of  getting  about  country  like  the  Athi  Plains, 
where — so  long  as  it  is  dry — there  is  little  or 


xxiv  BHOOTA'S  LAST  SHIKJR  271 

nothing  to  obstruct  wheeled  traffic.  Once  started, 
we  rattled  over  the  smooth  expanse  at  a  good  rate, 
and  on  the  way  bagged  a  hartebeeste  and  a  couple 
of  gazelle,  as  fresh  meat  was  badly  needed  in  camp  ; 
besides,  they  offered  most  tempting  shots,  for  they 
stood  stock-still  gazing  at  us,  struck  no  doubt  by 
the  npvel  appearance  of  our  conveyance.  Next  we 
came  upon  a  herd  of  wildebeeste,  and  here  we 
allowed  Bhoota,  who  was  a  wary  shikari  and  an  old 
servant  of  Spooner's,  to  stalk  a  solitary  bull.  He 
was  highly  pleased  at  this  favour,  and  did  the  job 
admirably. 

At  last  we  reached  the  spot  where  I  had  seen  the 
t\vo  lions  on  the  previous  day — a  slight  hollow, 
covered  with  long  grass ;  but  there  was  now  no 
trace  of  them  to  be  discovered,  so  we  moved  further 
on  and  had  another  good  beat  round.  After  some 
little  time  the  excitement  began  by  our  spying  the 
black-tipped  ears  of  a  lioness  projecting  above  the 
grass,  and  the  next  moment  a  very  fine  lion  arose 
from  beside  her  and  gave  us  a  full  view  of  his  grand 
head  and  mane.  After  staring  fixedly  at  us  in  an 
inquiring  sort  of  way  as  we  slowly  advanced  upon 
them,  they  both  turned  and  slowly  trotted  off,  the 
lion  stopping  every  now  and  again  to  gaze  round  in 
our  direction.  Very  imposing  and  majestic  he  looked, 
too,  as  he  thus  turned  his  great  shaggy  head 
defiantly  towards  us,  and  Spooner  had  to  admit 


272  THE  MAN-EATERS  OF  TSAVO          CHAP. 

that  it  was  the  finest  sight  he  had  ever  seen.  For 
a  while  we  followed  them  on  foot ;  but  rinding  at 
length  that  they  were  getting  away  from  us  and 
would  soon  be  lost  to  sight  over  a  bit  of  rising 
ground,  we  jumped  quickly  into  the  tonga  and 
galloped  round  the  base  of  the  knoll  so  as  to  cut 
off  their  retreat,  the  excitement  of  the  rough  and 
bumpy  ride  being  intensified  a  hundredfold  by  the 
probability  of  our  driving  slap  into  the  pair  on 
rounding  the  rise.  On  getting  to  the  other  side, 
however,  they  were  nowhere  to  be  seen,  so  we 
drove  on  as  hard  as  we  could  to  the  top,  whence 
we  caught  sight  of  them  about  four  hundred  yards 
away.  As  there  seemed  to  be  no  prospect  of  getting 
nearer  we  decided  to  open  fire  at  this  range,  and 
at  the  third  shot  the  lioness  tumbled  over  to  my 
•303.  At  first  I  thought  I  had  .done  for  her,  as  for 
a  few  minutes  she  lay  on  the  ground  kicking  and 
struggling ;  but  in  the  end,  although  evidently 
badly  hit,  she  rose  to  her  feet  and  followed  the 
lion,  who  had  escaped  uninjured,  into  some  long 
grass  from  which  we  could  not  hope  to  dislodge 
them. 

As  it  was  now  late  in  the  afternoon,  and  as  there 
seemed  no  possibility  of  inducing  the  lions  to 
leave  the  thicket  in  which  they  had  concealed 
themselves,  we  turned  back  towards  camp,  intend- 
ing to  come  out  again  the  next  day  to  track  the 


xxiv  BHOOTA'S  LAST  SHIKAR  273 

wounded  lioness.  I  was  now  riding  "  Blazeaway  " 
and  was  trotting  along  in  advance  of  the  tonga, 
when  suddenly  he  shied  badly  at  a  hyaena,  which 
sprang  up  out  of  the  grass  almost  from  beneath  his 
feet  and  quickly  scampered  off.  I  pulled  up  for  a 
moment  and  sat  watching  the  hyaena's  ungainly 
bounds,  wondering  whether  he  were  worth  a  shot. 
Suddenly  I  felt  "  Blazeaway "  trembling  violently 
beneath  me,  and  on  looking  over  my  left  shoulder 
to  discover  the  reason,  I  was  startled  to  see  two  fine 
lions  not  more  than  a  hundred  yards  away,  evidently 
the  pair  which  I  had  seen  the  day  before  and  which 
we  had  really  come  in  search  of.  They  looked 
as  if  they  meant  to  dispute  our  passage,  for  they 
came  slowly  towards  me  for  about  ten  yards  or  so 
and  then  lay  down,  watching  me  steadily  all  the 
time.  I  called  out  to  Spooner,  "  Here  are  the  lions 
I  told  you  about,"  and  he  whipped  up  the  ponies 
and  in  a  moment  or  two  was  beside  me  with  the 
tonga. 

By  this  time  I  had  seized  my  '303  and  dis- 
mounted, so  we  at  once  commenced  a  cautious 
advance  on  the  crouching  lions,  the  arrangement 
being  that  Spooner  was  to  take  the  right-hand  one 
and  I  the  other.  We  had  got  to  within  sixty 
yards'  range  without  incident  and  were  just  about  to 
sit  down  comfortably  to  "  pot "  them,  when  they 
suddenly  surprised  us  by  turning  and  bolting  off.  I 

T 


274  THE  MAN-EATERS  OF  TSAVO          CHAP. 

managed,   however,  to  put  a  bullet  into  the  one  I 
had    marked  just  as   he    crested    a    bank,    and    he 
looked   very  grand    as    he    reared    up    against    the 
sky  and  clawed  the  air  on  feeling  the  lead.     For  a 
second  or  two  he  gave  me  the  impression  that  he 
was  about   to  charge  ;  but  luckily   he   changed  his 
mind  and  followed  his  companion,  who  had  so  far 
escaped  scot  free.     I  immediately  mounted  "  Blaze- 
away  "   and  galloped   off  in   hot  pursuit,   and  after 
about  half  a  mile   of  very  stiff  going  got  up  with 
them  once  more.     Finding  now  that  they  could  not 
get   away,    they    halted,    came    to    bay    and     then 
charged  down  upon  me,  the  wounded  lion  leading. 
I  had  left  my  rifle  behind,  so  all  I   could  do  was  to 
turn    and    fly    as    fast   as    "  Blazeaway "    could    go, 
praying  inwardly  the  while  that  he  would  not  put 
his  foot  into  a  hole.     When  the  lions  saw  that  they 
were  unable  to  overtake  me,  they  gave  up  the  chase 
and  lay  down  again,  the  wounded  one  being  about 
two  hundred  yards  in  front  of  the  other.     At  once 
I  pulled  up  too,  and  then  went  back  a  little  way, 
keeping  a  careful  eye  upon  them  ;  and  I  continued 
these  tactics  of  riding  up  and  down  at  a  respectful 
distance  until  Spooner  came  up  with  the  rifles,  when 
we  renewed  the  attack. 

As  a  first  measure  I  thought  it  advisable  to  dis- 
able the  unhurt  lion  if  possible,  and,  still  using  the 
•303,  I  got  him  with  the  second  shot  at  a  range  of 


xxiv  BHOOTA'S  LAST  SHIK4R  275 

about  three  hundred  yards.  He  seemed  badly  hit, 
for  he  sprang  into  the  air  and  apparently  fell  heavily. 
I  then  exchanged  my  -303  for  Spooner's  spare  12- 
bore  rifle,  and  we  turned  our  attention  to  the  nearer 
lion,  who  all  this  time  had  been  lying  perfectly  still, 
watching  our  movements  closely,  and  evidently  just 
waiting  to  be  down  upon  us  the  moment  we  came 
within  charging  distance.  He  was  never  given  this 
opportunity,  however,  for  we  did  not  approach 
nearer  than  ninety  yards,  when  Spooner  sat  down 
comfortably  and  knocked  him  over  quite  dead  with 
one  shot  from  his  '577,  the  bullet  entering  the  left 
shoulder  obliquely  and  passing  through  the  heart. 

It  was  now  dusk,  and  there  was  no  time  to  be 
lost  if  we  meant  to  bag  the  second  lion  as  well. 
We  therefore  resumed  our  cautious  advance,  moving 
to  the  right  as  we  went,  so  as  to  get  behind  us  what 
light  there  was  remaining.  The  lion  of  course 
twisted  round  in  the  grass  in  such  a  way  as  always 
to  keep  facing  us,  and  looked  very  ferocious,  so  that 
I  was  convinced  that  unless  he  were  entirely  dis- 
abled by  the  first  shot  he  would  be  down  on  us  like 
a  whirlwind.  All  the  same,  I  felt  confident  that, 
even  in  this  event,  one  of  us  would  succeed  in 
stopping  him  before  he  could  do  any  damage  ; 
but  in  this  I  was  unfortunately  to  be  proved 
mistaken. 

Eventually  we  managed  to  get  within  eighty  yards 

T  2 


276  THE  MAN-EATERS  OF  TSAVO          CHAP. 

of  the  enraged  animal,  I  being  about  five  yards 
to  the  left  front  of  Spooner,  who  was  followed 
by  Bhoota  at  about  the  same  distance  to  his  right 
rear.  By  this  time  the  lion  was  beside  himself 
with  fury,  growling  savagely  and  raising  quite  a 
cloud  of  dust  by  lashing  his  tail  against  the  ground. 
It  was  clearly  high  time  that  we  did  something, 
so  asking  Spooner  to  fire,  I  dropped  on  one  knee 
and  waited.  Nor  was  I  kept  long  in  suspense,  for  the 
moment  Spooner's  shot  rang  out,  up  jumped  the  lion 
and  charged  down  in  a  bee-line  for  me,  coming  in 
long,  low  bounds  at  great  speed.  I  fired  the  right 
barrel  at  about  fifty  yards,  but  apparently  missed  ;  the 
left  at  about  half  that  range,  still  without  stopping 
effect.  I  knew  then  that  there  was  no  time  to  reload, 
so  remained  kneeling,  expecting  him  to  be  on  me  the 
next  moment.  Suddenly,  just  as  he  was  within  a 
bound  of  me,  he  made  a  quick  turn  to  my  right. 
"Good  heavens,"  I  thought,  "he  is  going  for 
Spooner."  I  was  wrong  in  this,  however,  for  like  a 
flash  he  passed  Spooner  also,  and  with  a  last  tre- 
mendous bound  seized  Bhoota  by  the  leg  and  rolled 
over  and  over  with  him  for  some  yards  in  the 
impetus  of  the  rush.  Finally  he  stood  over  him 
and  tried  to  seize  him  by  the  throat,  which  the 
brave  fellow  prevented  by  courageously  stuffing 
his  left  arm  right  into  the  great  jaws.  Poor 
Bhoota !  By  moving  at  the  critical  moment,  he 


xxiv  BHOOTA'S  LAST  SHIKAR  277 


had  diverted  the  lion's  attention  from  me  and 
had  drawn  the  whole  fury  of  the  charge  on  to 
himself. 

All  this,  of  course,  happened  in  only  a  second  or 
two.      In  the  short  instant  that  intervened,  I  felt  a 
cartridge  thrust  into  my  hand  by  Spooner's  plucky 
servant,    Imam    Din, 
who  had   carried  the 
1 2 -bore  all   day   and 
who  had  stuck  to  me 
gallantly    throughout 
the      charge ;     and 
shoving  it  in,  I  rushed 
as  quickly  as  I  could 
to     Bhoota's     rescue. 
Meanwhile,    Spooner 

had  got    there   before       :<  SPOONER'S  PLUCKY  SERVANT,  IMAM 

DIN." 

me  and  when  I  came 

up  actually  had  his  left  hand  on  the  lion's  flank,  in  a 
vain  attempt  to  push  him  off  Bhoota's  prostrate 
body  and  so  get  at  the  heavy  rifle  which  the  poor 
fellow  still  stoutly  clutched.  The  lion,  however,  was 
so  busily  engaged  mauling  Bhoota's  arm  that  he  paid 
not  the  slightest  attention  to  Spooner's  efforts.  Un- 
fortunately, as  he  was  facing  straight  in  my  direc- 
tion, I  had  to  move  up  in  full  view  of  him,  and  the 
moment  I  reached  his  head,  he  stopped  chewing 
the  arm,  though  still  holding  it  in  his  mouth, 
and  threw  himself  back  on  his  haunches,  prepar- 


278  THE  MAN-EATERS  OF  TSAVO          CHAP. 

ing  for  a  spring,  at  the  same  time  curling  back 
his  lips  and  exposing  his  long  tusks  in  a  savage 
snarl.  I  knew  then  that  I  had  not  a  moment 
to  spare,  so  I  threw  the  rifle  up  to  my  shoulder 
and  pulled  the  trigger.  Imagine  my  utter  de- 
spair and  horror  when  it  did  not  go  off!  "  Misfire 
again,"  I  thought,  and  my  heart  almost  stopped 
beating.  As  I  took  a  step  backwards,  I  felt  it  was 
all  over  now,  for  he  would  never  give  me  time  to 
extract  the  cartridge  and  load  again.  Still  I  took 
another  step  backwards,  keeping  my  eyes  fixed  on 
the  lion's,  which  were  blazing  with  rage  ;  and  in  the 
middle  of  my  third  step,  just  as  the  brute  was 
gathering  himself  for  his  spring,  it  suddenly  struck 
me  that  in  my  haste  and  excitement,  I  had  forgotten 
that  I  was  using  a  borrowed  rifle  and  had  not  pulled 
back  the  hammer  (my  own  was  hammerless).  To 
do  this  and  put  a  bullet  through  the  lion's  brain 
was  then  the  work  of  a  moment ;  and  he  fell  dead 
instantly  right  on  the  top  of  Bhoota. 

We  did  not  lose  a  moment  in  rolling  his  great 
carcase  off  Bhoota's  body  and  quickly  forced  open 
the  jaws  so  as  to  disengage  the  mangled  arm, 
which  still  remained  in  his  mouth.  By  this  time 
the  poor  shikari  was  in  a  fainting  condition,  and  we 
flew  to  the  tonga  for  the  brandy  flask  which  we  had 
so  providentially  brought  with  us.  On  making  a 
rough  examination  of  the  wounded  man,  we  found 
that  his  left  arm  and  right  leg  were  both  frightfully 


xxiv  BHOOTA'S  LAST  SHIK4R  279 

mauled,  the  latter  being  broken  as  well.  He  was 
lifted  tenderly  into  the  tonga — how  thankful  we  now 
were  to  have  it  with  us  ! — and  Spooner  at  once  set 
off  with  him  to  camp  and  the  doctor. 

Before  following  them  home  I  made  a  hasty 
examination  of  the  dead  lion  and  found  him  to  be  a 
very  good  specimen  in  every  way.  I  was  particularly 
satisfied  to  see  that  one  of  the  two  shots  I  had  fired 
as  he  charged  down  upon  me  had  taken  effect. 
The  bullet  had  entered  below  the  right  eye,  and 
only  just  missed  the  brain.  Unfortunately  it  was  a 
steel  one  which  Spooner  had  unluckily  brought  in 
his  ammunition  bag  by  mistake  ;  still  one  would 
have  thought  that  a  shot  of  this  kind,  even  with  a 
hard  bullet,  would  at  least  have  checked  the  lion  for 
the  moment.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  however,  it  went 
clean  through  him  without  having  the  slightest 
stopping  effect.  My  last  bullet,  which  was  of  soft 

* 

lead,  had  entered  close  to  the  right  eye  and 
embedded  itself  in  the  brain.  By  this  time  it  had 
grown  almost  dark,  so  I  left  the  two  dead  lions  where 
they  lay  and  rode  for  camp,  which  I  was  lucky 
enough  to  reach  without  further  adventure  or 
mishap.  I  may  mention  here  that  early  next 
morning  two  other  lions  were  found  devouring  the 
one  we  had  first  shot ;  but  they  had  not  had  time  to 
do  much  damage,  and  the  head,  which  I  have  had 
mounted,  makes  a  very  fine  trophy  indeed.  The 
lion  that  mauled  Bhoota  was  untouched. 


28o  THE  MAN-EATERS  OF  TSAVO          CHAP. 

On  my  arrival  in  camp  I  found  that  everything 
that  was  possible  was  being  done  for  poor  Bhoota  by 
Dr.  McCulloch,  the  same  who  had  travelled  up  with 
me  to  Tsavo  and  shot  the  ostrich  from  the  train 
on  my  first  arrival  in  the  country,  and  who  was 
luckily  on  the  spot.  His  wounds  had  been  skilfully 
dressed,  the  broken  leg  put  in  splints,  and  under  the 
influence  of  a  soothing  draught  the  poor  fellow  was 
soon  sleeping  peacefully.  At  first  we  had  great 
hope  of  saving  both  life  and  limb,  and  certainly  for 
some  days  he  seemed  to  be  getting  on  as  well 
as  could  be  expected.  The  wounds,  however,  were 
very  bad  ones,  especially  those  on  the  leg  where  the 
long  tusks  had  met  through  and  through  the  flesh, 
leaving  over  a  dozen  deep  tooth  marks  ;  the  arm, 
though  dreadfully  mauled,  soon  healed.  It  was 
wonderful  to  notice  how  cheerfully  the  old  shikari 
bore  it  all,  and  a  pleasure  to  listen  to  his  tale  of 
how  he  would  have  his  revenge  on  the  whole  tribe 
of  lions  as  soon  as  he  was  able  to  get  about  again. 
But  alas,  his  shikar  was  over.  The  leg  got  rapidly 
worse,  and  mortification  setting  in,  it  had  to  be 
amputated  half  way  up  the  thigh.  Dr.  Winston 
Waters  performed  the  operation  most  skilfully,  and 
curiously  enough  the  operating  table  was  canopied 
with  the  skin  of  the  lion  which  had  been  respon- 
sible for  the  injury.  Bhoota  made  a  good  recovery 
from  the  operation,  but  seemed  to  lose  heart  when 
he  found  that  he  had  only  one  leg  left,  as  according 


XXIV 


BHOOTA'S  LAST  SHIKAR 


281 


to  his  ideas  he  had  now  but  a  poor  chance  of  being 
allowed  to  enter  Heaven.  We  did  all  that  was 
possible  for  him,  and  Spooner  especially  could  not 
have  looked  after  a  brother  more  tenderly ;  but 
to  our  great  sorrow  he  sank  gradually,  and  died  on 
July  19. 

The  hunt  which  had  such  a  disastrous  sequel 
proved  to  be  the  last  occasion  on  which  I  met  a  lion 
in  the  open,  as  we  got  out  of  the  hunting  country 
shortly  afterwards  and  for  the  rest  of  my  stay 
in  East  Africa  I  had  too  much  work  to  do  to  be 
able  to  go  any  distance  in  search  of  big  game. 


ioner.     Bhoota.     The  Author.     Imam  Din.] 
A   COLLECTION   OF   TROPHIES. 


CHAPTER  XXV 

A    MAN-EATER    IN    A    RAILWAY    CARRIAGE 

TOWARDS  the  end  of  my  stay  in  British  East 
Africa,  I  dined  one  evening  with  Mr.  Ryall,  the 
Superintendent  of  the  Police,  in  his  inspection 
carriage  on  the  railway.  Poor  Ryall  !  I  little 
thought  then  what  a  terrible  fate  was  to  overtake 
him  only  a  few  months  later  in  that  very  carriage  in 
which  we  dined. 

A  man-eating  lion  had  taken  up  his  quarters  at  a 
little  roadside  station  called  Kimaa,  and  had  devel- 
oped an  extraordinary  taste  for  the  members  of  the 
railway  staff.  He  was  a  most  daring  brute,  quite 
indifferent  as  to  whether  he  carried  off  the  station- 
master,  the  signalman,  or  the  pointsman  ;  and  one 
night,  in  his  efforts  to  obtain  a  meal,  he  actually 
climbed  up  on  to  the  roof  of  the  station  buildings 
and  tried  to  tear  off  the  corrugated- iron  sheets.  At 
this  the  terrified  baboo  in  charge  of  the  telegraph 
instrument  below  sent  the  following  laconic  message 


CH.  xxv  MAN-EATER  IN  RAILWAY  CARRIAGE   283 

to  the  Traffic  Manager :  "  Lion  fighting  with 
station.  Send  urgent  succour."  Fortunately  he 
was  not  victorious  in  his  "  fight  with  the  station  "  ; 
but  he  tried  so  hard  to  get  in  that  he  cut  his  feet 
badly  on  the  iron  sheeting,  leaving  large  blood- 
stains on  the  roof.  Another  night,  however,  he 
succeeded  in  carrying  off  the  native  driver  of  the 
pumping-engine,  and  soon  afterwards  added  several 
other  victims  to  his  list.  On  one  occasion  an 
engine-driver  arranged  to  sit  up  all  night  in  a  large 
iron  water-tank  in  the  hope  of  getting  a  shot  at  him, 
and  had  a  loop-hole  cut  in  the  side  of  the  tank  from 
which  to  fire.  But  as  so  often  happens,  the  hunter 
became  the  hunted  ;  the  lion  turned  up  in  the 
middle  of  the  night,  overthrew  the  tank  and 
actually  tried  to  drag  the  driver  out  through  the 
narrow  circular  hole  in  the  top  through  which  he 
had  squeezed  in.  Fortunately  the  tank  was  just 
too  deep  for  the  brute  to  be  able  to  reach  the  man 
at  the  bottom ;  but  the  latter  was  naturally  half 
paralysed  with  fear  and  had  to  crouch  so  low  down 
as  to  be  unable  to  take  anything  like  proper  aim. 
He  fired,  however,  and  succeeded  in  frightening 
the  lion  away  for  the  time  being. 

It  was  in  a  vain  attempt  to  destroy  this  pest  that 
poor  Ryall  met  his  tragic  and  untimely  end.  On 
June  6,  1900,  he  was  travelling  up  in  his  inspection 
carriage  from  Makindu  to  Nairobi,  accompanied  by 


284  THE  MAN-EATERS  OF  TSAVO          CHAP. 

two  friends,  Mr.  Huebner  and  Mr.  Parenti.  When 
they  reached  Kimaa,  which  is  about  two  hundred 
and  fifty  miles  from  Mombasa,  they  were  told  that 
the  man-eater  had  been  seen  close  to  the  station 
only  a  short  time  before  their  train  arrived,  so 
they  at  once  made  up  their  minds  to  remain 
there  for  the  night  and  endeavour  to  shoot  him. 
Ryall's  carriage  was  accordingly  detached  from 
the  train  and  shunted  into  a  siding  close  to  the 
station,  where,  owing  to  the  unfinished  state  ot 
the  line,  it  did  not  stand  perfectly  level,  but  had 
a  pronounced  list  to  one  side.  In  the  afternoon 
the  three  friends  went  out  to  look  for  the  lion, 
but  finding  no  traces  of  him  whatever,  they  re- 
turned to  the  carriage  for  dinner.  Afterwards 
they  all  sat  up  on  guard  for  some  time  ;  but 
the  only  noticeable  thing  they  saw  was  what 
they  took  to  be  two  very  bright  and  steady  glow- 
worms. After  events  proved  that  these  could  have 
been  nothing  else  than  the  eyes  of  the  man-eater 
steadily  watching  them  all  the  time  and  studying 
their  every  movement.  The  hour  now  growing  late, 
and  there  being  apparently  no  sign  of  the  lion, 
Ryall  persuaded  his  two  friends  to  lie  down,  while 
he  kept  the  first  watch.  Huebner  occupied  the  high 
berth  over  the  table  on  the  one  side  of  the  carriage, 
the  only  other  berth  being  on  the  opposite  side  of 
the  compartment  and  lower  down.  This  Ryall 


xxv     MAN-EATER  IN  RAILWAY  CARRIAGE    1285 

offered  to  Parenti,  who  declined  it,  saying  that  he 
would  be  quite  comfortable  on  the  floor ;  and  he 
accordingly  lay  down  to  sleep,  with  his  feet  towards 
the  sliding  door  which  gave  admission  to  the 
carriage. 

It  is  supposed  that  Ryall,  after  watching  for 
some  considerable  time,  must  have  come  to  the 
conclusion  that  the  lion  was  not  going  to  make  its 
appearance  that  night,  for  he  lay  down  on  the  lower 
berth  and  dozed  off.  No  sooner  had  he  done 
so,  doubtless,  than  the  cunning  man-eater  began 
cautiously  to  stalk  the  three  sleepers.  In  order  to 
reach  the  little  platform  at  the  end  of  the  carriage, 
he  had  to  mount  two  very  high  steps  from  the 
railway  line,  but  these  he  managed  to  negotiate 
successfully  and  in  silence.  The  door  from  this 
platform  into  the  carriage  was  a  sliding  one  on 
wheels,  which  ran  very  easily  on  a  brass  runner  ; 
and  as  it  was  probably  not  quite  shut,  or  at  any 
rate  not  secured  in  any  way,  it  was  an  easy  matter 
for  the  lion  to  thrust  in  a  paw  and  shove  it  open. 
But  owing  to  the  tilt  of  the  carriage  and  to  his 
great  extra  weight  on  the  one  side,  the  door  slid  to 
and  snapped  into  the  lock  the  moment  he  got  his 
body  right  in,  thus  leaving  him  shut  up  with  the 
three  sleeping  men  in  the  compartment. 

He  sprang  at  once  at  Ryall,  but  in  order  to  reach 
him  had  actually  to  plant  his  feet  on  Parenti,  who,  it 


286  THE  MAN-EATERS  OF  TSAVO          CHAP. 

will  be  remembered,  was  sleeping  on  the  floor.  At 
this  moment  Huebner  was  suddenly  awakened  by  a 
loud  cry,  and  on  looking  down  from  his  berth  was 
horrified  to  see  an  enormous  lion  standing  with  his 
hind  feet  on  Parenti's  body,  while  his  forepaws 
rested  on  poor  Ryall.  Small  wonder  that  he  was 
panic-stricken  at  the  sight.  There  was  only  one 
possible  way  of  escape,  and  that  was  through  the 
second  sliding  door  communicating  with  the  ser- 
vants' quarters,  which  was  opposite  to  that  by 
which  the  lion  had  entered.  But  in  order  to  reach 
this  door  Huebner  had  literally  to  jump  on  to  the 
man-eater's  back,  for  its  great  bulk  filled  up  all 
the  space  beneath  his  berth.  It  sounds  scarcely 
credible,  but  it  appears  that  in  the  excitement  and 
horror  of  the  moment  he  actually  did  this,  and 
fortunately  the  lion  was  too  busily  engaged  with 
his  victim  to  pay  any  attention  to  him.  So  he 
managed  to  reach  the  door  in  safety  ;  but  there,  to 
his  dismay,  he  found  that  it  was  held  fast  on  the 
other  side  by  the  terrified  coolies,  who  had  been 
aroused  by  the  disturbance  caused  by  the  lion's 
entrance.  In  utter  desperation  he  made  frantic 
efforts  to  open  it,  and  exerting  all  his  strength  at 
last  managed  to  pull  it  back  sufficiently  far  to  allow 
him  to  squeeze  through,  when  the  trembling  coolies 
instantly  tied  it  up  again  with  their  turbans.  A 
moment  afterwards  a  great  crash  was  heard,  and  the 


xxv      MAN-EATER  IN  RAILWAY  CARRIAGE      287 

whole  carriage  lurched  violently  to  one  side  ;  the 
lion  had  broken  through  one  of  the  windows,  carry- 
ing off  poor  Ryall  with  him.  Being  now  released, 
Parenti  lost  no  time  in  jumping  through  the  win- 
dow on  the  opposite  side  of  the  carriage,  and  fled 
for  refuge  to  one  of  the  station  buildings ;  his 


"HE   WAS   KEPT   ON   VIEW   FOR   SEVERAL   DAYS,   AND  THEN   SHOT." 

escape  was  little  short  of  miraculous,  as  the  lion 
had  been  actually  standing  on  him  as  he  lay  on  the 
floor.  The  carriage  itself  was  badly  shattered,  and 
the  wood-work  of  the  window  had  been  broken  to 
pieces  by  the  passage  of  the  lion  as  he  sprang 
through  with  his  victim  in  his  mouth. 

All  that  can  be  hoped  is  that  poor  Ryall's  death 


288 


THE  MAN-EATERS  OF  TSAVO      CH.  xxv 


was  instantaneous.  His  remains  were  found  next 
morning  about  a  quarter  of  a  mile  away  in  the 
bush,  and  were  taken  to  Nairobi  for  burial.  I  am 
glad  to  be  able  to  add  that  very  shortly  afterwards 
the  terrible  brute  who  was  responsible  for  this 
awful  tragedy  was  caught  in  an  ingenious  trap 
constructed  by  one  of  the  railway  staff.  He  was 
kept  on  view  for  several  days,  and  then  shot. 


l.MI'AI.A. 


CHAPTER    XXVI 

WORK    AT    NAIROBI 

ALTHOUGH  the  lion  which  caused  poor  Bhoota's 
death  was  the  last  I  managed  to  shoot  in  East 
Africa,  I  saw  several  others  afterwards  while  travel- 
ling up  and  down  the  line  at  different  times  on 
construction  work.  In  particular,  I  remember  one 
very  curious  incident  which  happened  early  on  the 
morning  of  June  2,  when  I  was  travelling  towards 
Nairobi,  accompanied  by  Dr.  McCulloch.  The 
Doctor  was  going  home  on  leave  in  the  course  of  a 
few  days,  and  was  bemoaning  to  me  his  bad  luck  in 
never  having  shot  or  even  seen  a  lion  all  the  time  he 
had  been  in  the  country.  We  were  standing  on  the 
engine  at  the  time,  facing  each  other,  he  with  his 
back  to  the  north. 

"  My  dear  Mac,"  I  said,  "  it  is  because  you  don't 
look  out  for  them." 

"  Rubbish,"  he  retorted  ;  "  I  do  nothing  else  when 
I  am  out  hunting." 


290  THE  MAN-EATERS  OF  TSAVO          CHAP. 


"  Well,"  I  replied,  "are  you  really  very  anxious  to 
shoot  one  before  you  go  home  ?  " 

"  I  would  rather  get  a  lion  than  anything  else  in 
the  world,"  was  the  emphatic  reply. 

"  Very  good,  then.  Sultan,"  I  called  to  the 
driver,  "stop  the  engine." 

"  Now,  Mac,"  I  continued,  as  the  train  was 
quickly  brought  to  a  standstill,  "  here's  a  chance 
for  you.  Just  jump  off  and  bag  those  two  over 
there." 

He  turned  round  in  blank  astonishment  and 
could  hardly  believe  his  eyes  when  he  saw  two 
fine  lions  only  about  two  hundred  yards  off,  busily 
engaged  in  devouring  a  wildebeeste  which  they  had 
evidently  just  killed.  I  had  spotted  them  almost 
as  soon  as  Mac  had  begun  to  talk  of  his  bad  luck, 
and  had  only  waited  to  tell  him  until  we  got  nearer, 
so  as  to  give  him  a  greater  surprise.  He  was  off 
the  engine  in  a  second  and  made  directly  for  the 
two  beasts.  Just  as  he  was  about  to  fire  one  of 
them  bolted,  so  I  called  out  to  him  to  shoot  the 
other  quickly  before  he  too  made  good  his  escape. 
This  one  was  looking  at  us  over  his  shoulder  with 
one  paw  on  the  dead  wildebeeste,  and  while  he 
stood  in  this  attitude  Mac  dropped  him  with  a 
bullet  through  the  heart.  Needless  to  say  he  was 
tremendously  delighted  with  his  success,  and  after 
the  dead  lion  had  been  carried  to  the  train  and 


XXVI 


291 


propped  up  against  a  carriage,  I  took  a  photograph 
of  him  standing  beside  his  fine  trophy. 

Three  days  after  this  incident  railhead  reached 
Nairobi,  and  I  was  given  charge  of  the  new 
division  of  the  line.  Nairobi  was  to  be  the  head- 
quarters of  the  Railway  Administration,  so  there 


"  I    TOOK  A  I'HOTOC.RAI'H    OF    HIM    STANDING    RKSIDF:    HIS  KINK  TROl'HY." 


was  an  immense  amount  of  work  to  be  done  in 
converting  an  absolutely  bare  plain,  three  hundred 
and  twenty-seven  miles  from  the  nearest  place 
where  even  a  nail  could  be  purchased,  into  a 
busy  railway  centre.  Roads  and  bridges  had  to 
be  constructed,  houses  and  work-shops  built,  turn- 

u  2 


292  THE  MAN-EATERS  OF  TSAVO  CHAP. 

tables  and  station  quarters  erected,  a  water  supply 
laid  on,  and  a  hundred  and  one  other  things 
done  which  go  to  the  making  of  a  railway 
township.  Wonderfully  soon,  however,  the  nucleus 
of  the  present  town  began  to  take  shape,  and 
a  thriving  "bazaar"  sprang  into  existence  with 
a  mushroom-like  growth.  In  this,  however,  a 
case  or  two  of  plague  broke  out  before  very 
long,  so  I  gave  the  natives  and  Indians  who 
inhabited  it  an  hour's  notice  to  clear  out,  and  on 
my  own  responsibility  promptly  burned  the  whole 
place  to  the  ground.  For  this  somewhat  arbitrary 
proceeding  I  was  mildly  called  over  the  coals,  as 
I  expected  ;  but  all  the  same  it  effectually  stamped 
out  the  plague,  which  did  not  reappear  during  the 
time  I  was  in  the  country. 

With  a  little  persuasion  I  managed  to  induce 
several  hundred  of  the  Wa  Kikuyu,  in  whose 
country  we  now  were,  to  come  and  work  at 
Nairobi,  and  very  useful  and  capable  they  proved 
themselves  after  a  little  training.  They  frequently 
brought  me  in  word  that  the  shambas  (plantations, 
gardens)  at  the  back  of  the  hill  on  which  my  camp 
was  pitched  were  being  destroyed  by  elephants,  but 
unfortunately  I  could  never  spare  time  to  go  out  in 
quest  of  them.  On  one  occasion,  however,  I  passed 
the  news  on  to  my  friend,  Dr.  Winston  Waters, 


xxvi  WORK  AT  NAIROBI  3 

with  the  result  that  he  had  a  most  exciting  adven- 
ture with  a  big  bull  elephant.  He  set  out  in  quest 
of  the  depredator,  and,  guided  by  a  few  of  the  Wa 
Kikuyu,  soon  came  upon  him  hidden  among  some 
shady  trees.  Waters  was  a  great  believer  in  a 
close  shot,  so  he  stalked  up  to  within  a  few  yards 
of  the  animal  and  then  fired  his  "577,  aiming  for 
the  heart.  The  elephant  responded  by  a  prompt 
and  determined  charge,  and  although  Waters 
quickly  let  him  have  the  left  barrel  as  well,  it 
proved  of  no  effect ;  and  on  he  came,  screaming 
and  trumpeting  with  rage.  There  was  nothing  for 
it,  therefore,  but  to  fly  for  dear  life ;  so  down  a 
path  raced  Waters  for  all  he  was  worth,  the  ele- 
phant giving  vigorous  chase  and  gaining  rapidly. 
In  a  few  seconds  matters  began  to  look  very 
serious  for  the  sportsman,  for  the  huge  monster 
was  almost  on  him  ;  but  at  the  critical  moment 
he  stepped  on  to  the  false  cover  of  a  carefully- 
concealed  game  pit  and  disappeared  from  view  as 
if  by  magic.  This  sudden  descent  of  his  enemy 
apparently  into  the  bowels  of  the  earth  so  startled 
the  elephant  that  he  stopped  short  in  his  career 
and  made  off  into  the  jungle.  As  for  Waters, 
he  was  luckily  none  the  worse  for  his  fall,  as  the 
pit  was  neither  staked  at  the  bottom  nor  very 
deep  ;  he  soon  scrambled  out,  and,  following  up 


294 


THE  MAN-EATERS  OF  TSAVO 


CHAP. 


the  wounded   elephant,  succeeded  in  finishing  him 
off"  without  further  trouble. 

Towards  the  end  of  1899  I  left  for  England.  A 
few  days  before  I  started  all  my  Wa  Kikuyu 
"  children ",  as  they  called  themselves,  came  in 
a  body  and  begged  to  be  taken  with  me.  I 
pictured  to  them  the  cold,  wet  climate  of  England 


'SUCCEEDED  IN  FINISHING  HIM  OFF  WITHOUT  FURTHER 
TROUBLE." 


and  its  great  distance  from  their  native  land  ;  but 
they  assured  me  that  these  were  nothing  to  them, 
as  they  only  wished  to  continue  my  "  children  "  and 
to  go.  wherever  I  went.  I  could  hardly  imagine 
myself  arriving  in  London  with  a  body-guard  of 
four  hundred  more  or  less  naked  savages,  but  it  was 
only  with  difficulty  that  I  persuaded  them  that  they 
had  better  remain  in  their  own  country.  The  ever- 
faiihful  Mahina,  my  "boy"  Roshan  Khan,  my 


XXVI 


WORK  AT  NAIROBI 


295 


honest  chankidar  Meeanh,  and  a  few  other  coolies 
who  had  been  a  long  time  with  me,  accompanied  me 
to  the  coast,  where  they  bade  me  a  sorrowful 
farewell  and  left  for  India  the  day  before  I  sailed 
on  my  homeward  journey. 


STEAMER  I'NI.OADINC.  AT  KISl'MU,  ON  LAKE  VICTORIA  NYAN/A. 


THE    GRAND    FALLS,    TANA    RIVER. 

CHAPTER  XXVII 

THE    FINDING    OF    THE    NEW    ELAND 

DURING  the  early  part  of  last  year  (1906)  I 
revisited  the  scene  of  my  former  labours  and  adven- 
tures on  a  shooting  trip.  Unfortunately  the  train  by 
which  I  travelled  up  from  Mombasa  reached  Tsavo 
at  midnight,  but  all  the  same  I  got  out  and  prowled 
about  as  long  as  time  would  permit,  half  wondering 
every  moment  if  the  ghosts  of  the  two  man-eaters 
would  spring  at  me  out  of  the  bushes.  I  wanted 
very  much  to  spend  a  day  or  two  in  the  old  place, 
but  my  companions  were  anxious  to  push  on  as 
quickly  as  possible  to  better  hunting-grounds.  I 
took  the  trouble,  however,  to  wake  them  out  of 
their  peaceful  slumbers  in  order  to  point  out  to 
them,  by  the  pale  moonlight,  the  strength  and 
beauty  of  the  Tsavo  bridge  ;  but  I  fear  this  delicate 
little  attention  was  scarcely  appreciated  as  it 
deserved.  Naturally  I  could  not  expect  them,  or 


CH.  xxvii  THE  FINDING  OF  THE  NEW  ELAND  297 

anyone  else,  to  view  the  bridge  quite  from  my  point 
of  view  ;  I  looked  on  it  as  a  child  of  mine,  brought 
up  through  stress  and  danger  and  troubles  of  all 


SHIMONE,   "THE  PLACE  OF  FALLING  WATER"  (ELDAMA  RAVINE). 

kinds,   but  the   ordinary  traveller  of  course  knows 
nothing  of  this  and  doubtless  thinks  it  only  a  very 
commonplace  and  insignificant  structure  indeed. 
We  spent  a  few  days  at  Nairobi,  now  a  flourish- 


THE  MAN-EATERS  OF  TSAVO 


CHAP. 


ing  town  of  some  6,000  inhabitants,  supplied  with 
every  modern  comfort  and  luxury,  including  a  well 
laid-out  race  course  ;  and  after  a  short  trip  to  Lake 
Victoria  Nyanza  and  Uganda,  we  made  our  way 


back  to  the  Eldama  Ravine,  which  lies  some  twenty 
miles  north  of  Landiani  Station  in  the  province  of 
Naivasha.  Here  we  started  in  earnest  on  our  bio- 

O 

cyame  expedition,  which  I  am  glad  to  say  proved 
to  be  a  most  delightful  and  interesting  one  in  every 
way.  The  country  was  lovely,  and  the  climate 
cool  and  bracing.  We  all  got  a  fair  amount  of 


xxvn      THE  FINDING  OF  THE  NEW  ELAND      299 


sport,  our  bag-  including  rhino,  hippo,  waterbuck, 
reedbuck,  hartebeeste,  wildebeeste,  ostrich,  im- 
pala,  oryx,  roan  antelope,  etc.  ;  but  for  the  present 
I  must  confine  myself  to  a  short  account  of  how  I 


ROAN   ANTELOPE. 


was    lucky    enough     to    shoot    a    specimen    of    an 
entirely  new  race  of  eland. 

Our  party  of  five,  including  one  lady  who  rode 
and  shot  equally  straight,  left  the  Kldama  Ravine 
on  January  22,  and  trekked  off  in  an  easterly 
direction  across  the  Laikipia  Plateau.  As  the  trail 
which  we  were  to  take  was  very  little  known  and 


300 


THE  MAN-EATERS  OF  TSAVO 


CHAP. 


almost  impossible  to  follow  without  a  guide,  Mr. 
Foaker,  the  District  Officer  at  the  Ravine,  very 
kindly  procured  us  a  reliable  man — a  young 


"AN  EXCELLENT,  CHEERY  FELLOW.  .  .  NAMED  LANDAALU." 

Uashin  Gishu  Masai  named  Uliagurma.  But  as  he 
could  not  speak  a  word  of  Swahili,  we  had  also  to 
engage  an  interpreter,  an  excellent,  cheery  fellow  of 
the  same  tribe  named  Landaalu  ;  and  he  in  his  turn 


xxvn       THE  FINDING  OF  THE  NEW  ELAND     301 

possessed  a  kinsman  who  insisted  on  coming  too, 
although  he  was  no  earthly  use  to  us.  Our  route 
took  us  through  the  Solai  Swamp,  over  the  Multilo 
and  Subu  Ko  Lultian  ranges,  and  across  many 
unexpected  rivers  and  streamlets.  On  our  first 


CROSSING   A   STREAM   ON   THE   COOK'S   BOX. 

march  I  noticed  that  Uliagurma,  our  kirongozi 
(guide),  was  suffering  extremely,  though  uncom- 
plainingly, from  earache,  so  I  told  him  to  come  lo 
me  when  we  got  to  camp  and  I  would  see  what  I 
could  do  for  him.  Strange  to  say,  my  doctoring 
proved  most  successful,  and  Uliagurma  was  so 
grateful  that  he  spread  my  fame  as  a  "  medicine- 


302  THE  MAN-EATERS  OF  TSAVO          CHAP. 

man  "  far  and  wide  among  the  natives  wherever  we 
trekked.  The  consequence  was  that  men,  women 
and  children  in  every  state  of  disease  and  cripple- 
dom  came  and  besieged  our  camps,  begging  for 
some  of  the  magical  dawa  (medicine).  I  used  to  do 
what  I  could,  and  only  hope  I  did  not  injure  many 
of  them  ;  but  it  was  heartrending  to  see  some  of  the 
quite  hopeless  cases  I  was  expected  to  cure. 

After  we  had  climbed  the  Subu  Ko  Lultian  and 
got  a  footing  on  the  plateau,  we  pitched  our  camp 
on  the  banks  of  the  Angarua  river,  where  we 
found  a  big  Masai  kraal,  the  inhabitants  of  which 
seemed  much  astonished  at  our  sudden  appear- 
ance in  their  neighbourhood.  They  were  very 
friendly,  however,  and  visited  our  camp  in  swarms 
an  hour  or  so  after  our  arrival.  Riding  my  pony 
and  accompanied  by  Landaalu  as  interpreter,  and 
my  gun-bearer  Juma,  I  returned  their  call  in  the 
afternoon,  when  the  cliuorani  (warriors)  gave  for 
my  entertainment  an  exhibition  of  the  gymnastic 
exercises  which  they  practise  regularly  in  order 
more  particularly  to  strengthen  their  legs  and 
render  them  supple.  After  the  performance  I 
asked  if  there  was  any  game  about  and  was  told 
that  some  might  be  found  a  few  miles  to  the  north 
of  the  kraal  ;  so  I  set  out  at  once  with  Landaalu 
and  Juma  to  try  my  luck.  It  was  a  perfect 
afternoon,  and  no  sooner  had  I  cleared  the  belt 


xxvii       THE  FINDING  OF  THE  NEW  ELAND     303 


of  scrub  which  grew  round  the  kraal,  when  by  the 
aid  of  my  glasses  I  saw  a  herd  of  zebra  and  other 
game  away  in  the  distance,  feeding  peacefully 
on  the  rolling  prairie.  I  made  my  way  steadily 
towards  them,  and  noticed  as  I  went  that  a  couple 


CROSSING    THE    ANGAKUA    RIVER. 


of  eland  were  gradually  drawing  away  from  the  rest 
of  the  herd.  I  marked  these  for  my  own,  and  care- 
fully noting  the  direction  they  were  taking,  I  dis- 
mounted and  made  a  detour  round  a  rise  so  as  to 
lie  in  wait  for  them  and  cut  them  off.  My  plan 
succeeded  admirably,  for  the  two  fine  animals 
continued  to  come  straight  towards  me  without 


3o4  THE  MAN-EATERS  OF  TSAVO  CHAP. 


suspicion,  feeding  quietly  by  the  way.  When  they 
got  to  within  eighty  yards  or  so,  I  picked  out  the 
bigger  head  and  was  only  waiting  for  him  to  make 
a  slight  turn  before  pulling  the  trigger,  when  bang 
went  the  heavy  rifle  of  one  of  my  companions  about 
half  a  mile  away.  In  an  instant  the  two  eland  had 
bounded  off,  and  I  decided  not  to  risk  a  shot,  in  the 
hope  that  they  would  soon  settle  down  again  and 
give  me  another  chance. 

Mentally  blessing  my  friend  for  firing  at  this 
untimely  moment,  I  watched  them  make  for  a 
belt  of  wood  about  a  mile  further  on,  hoping 
against  hope  that  they  would  remain  on  the  near 
side  of  it.  No  such  luck,  however,  for  they 
plunged  into  it  and  were  quickly  swallowed  up 
out  of  my  sight.  Running  to  my  pony,  which 
Landaalu  had  dexterously  brought  up,  I  galloped 
in  the  direction  of  the  spot  in  the  trees  where 
the  eland  had  disappeared  ;  but  imagine  my  vexa- 
tion when  I  found  that  I  had  to  pull  up  sharp 
on  the  edge  of  a  nasty-looking  swamp,  which  at 
first  sight  appeared  too  boggy  and  treacherous  to 
attempt  to  cross.  I  rode  up  and  down  it  without 
being  able  to  find  anything  like  a  really  safe  crossing 
place,  so  in  desperation  I  at  last  determined  to  take 
the  risk  of  crossing  it  along  an  old  rhino  path  where 
the  reeds  were  flattened  down.  My  pony  floundered 
bravely  through,  and  eventually  succeeded  in  get- 


xxvii     THE  FINDING  OF  THE  NEW  ELAND       305 

ting  safely  to  the  other  side.  I  then  made  my  way 
cautiously  through  the  belt  of  trees,  and  was  relieved 
to  find  that  it  was  only  half  a  mile  or  so  broad.  I 


RKEDBUCK. 


dismounted  as  I  neared  the  further  side,  and,  tying 
my  pony  to  a  tree,  crept  quietly  forward,  expecting 
to  see  the  eland  not  far  off ;  but  to  my  disappoint- 
ment there  was  no  trace  of  game  of  any  kind  on  the 

x 


306  THE  MAN-EATERS  OF  TSAVO  CHAP. 

whole  wide  stretch  of  country  that  met  my  view.  I 
therefore  tried  another  direction,  and,  taking  a  half 
turn  to  my  left,  made  my  way  carefully  through 
some  open  glades  to  the  top  of  a  little  rise  not 
far  off. 

The  sight  that  now  met  my  eyes  fairly  took  my 
breath  away  ;  for  there,  not  three  hundred  yards  off 
and  stalking  placidly  along  at  a  slow  walk,  was  a 
herd  of  fully  a  hundred  eland  of  all  ages  and  sizes. 
The  rear  of  the  column  was  brought  up  by  a  magni- 
ficent old  bull,  and  my  heart  jumped  for  joy  as  I 
watched  him  from  the  shelter  of  the  bushes  behind 
which  I  lay  concealed.  The  next  thing  to  be  done 
was  to  decide  on  a  plan  of  attack,  and  this  had  to  be 
thought  of  without  loss  of  time,  for  the  wind  was 
blowing  from  me  almost  in  the  direction  of  the 
eland,  who  would  certainly  scent  me  very  soon  if 
I  did  not  get  away.  Quickly  noting  the  direc- 
tion in  which  they  were  moving,  I  saw  that  if 
all  went  well  they  ought  to  pass  close  to  a  little 
hillock  about  a  mile  or  so  off;  and  if  I  were  very 
sharp  about  it,  I  thought  I  could  make  a  circuit 
through  the  wood  and  be  on  this  rise,  in  a  good 
position  for  both  wind  and  cover,  before  the 
herd  could  reach  it.  Accordingly  I  crept  away 
with  the  object  of  finding  my  mount,  but  to  my 
delight — just  behind  me  and  well  hidden — stood 
the  undefeated  Landaalu,  who  in  some  mysterious 


xxvir     THE  FINDING  OF  THE  NEW  ELAND       307 

way  had  followed  me  up,  found  the  pony  where  I 
had  left  it  tied  to  a  tree,  and  brought  it  on  to  me. 
With  a  bright  grin  on  his  face  he  thrust  the  reins 
into  my  hand,  and  I  was  up  and  galloping  off  in  an 
instant. 

I  soon  discovered  that  I  had  further  to  go  than 
I  expected,  for  I  was  forced  to  make  a  big  detour 
in  order  to  keep  out  of  sight  of  the  herd  ;  but  on 
halting  once  or  twice  and  peeping  through  the  trees 
I  saw  that  all  was  going  well  and  that  they  were 
still  calmly  moving  on  in  the  right  direction.  The 
last  quarter  of  a  mile  had  to  be  negotiated  in 
the  open,  but  I  found  that  by  lying  flat  down  on 
my  pony's  back  I  was  completely  hidden  from  the 
advancing  herd  by  an  intervening  swell  in  the 
ground.  In  this  manner  I  managed  to  get  un- 
observed to  the  lee  of  my  hillock,  where  I  dis- 
mounted, threw  the  reins  over  a  stump,  and  crawled 
stealthily  but  as  quickly  as  I  could  to  the  top.  I 
was  in  great  doubt  as  to  whether  I  should  be  in 
time  or  not,  but  on  peering,  hatless,  over  the  crest, 
I  was  overjoyed  to  find  the  whole  herd  just  below 
me.  One  of  the  eland,  not  twenty  yards  off,  saw 
me  at  once,  and  stood  still  to  gaze  at  me  in  astonish- 
ment. It  was  a  female,  however,  so  I  took  no  notice 
of  her,  but  looked  round  to  see  if  my  great  bull 
were  anywhere  near.  Yes,  there  he  was  ;  he  had 
passed  the  spot  where  I  lay,  but  was  not  more  than 

x  2 


3o8  THE  MAN-EATERS  OF  TSAVO          CHAP. 

forty  yards  off,  moving  in  the  same  leisurely  fashion 
as  when  I  first  saw  him.  An  instant  later,  he 
noticed  the  general  alarm  caused  by  my  appearance, 
and  stopped  and  turned  half  round  to  see  what  was 
the  matter.  This  gave  me  my  opportunity,  so  I 
fired,  aiming  behind  the  shoulder.  The  way  in 
which  he  jumped  and  kicked  on  feeling  the  lead  told 
me  I  had  hit  him  hard,  and  I  got  two  more  bullets 
into  him  from  the  magazine  of  my  '303  before  he 
managed  to  gain  the  shelter  of  a  neighbouring 
thicket  and  was  lost  to  sight.  In  the  meantime  the 
whole  herd  had  thundered  off  at  full  gallop,  disap- 
pearing in  a  few  minutes  in  a  cloud  of  dust. 

I  was  confident  that  there  would  be  little  difficulty 
in  finding  the  wounded  eland,  and  on  Landaalu 
coming  up — which,  by  the  way,  he  did  almost  im- 
mediately, for  he  was  a  wonderful  goer — we  started 
to  make  a  rough  search  through  the  thicket.  Owing 
to  the  growing  darkness,  however,  we  met  with  no 
success,  so  I  decided  to  return  to  camp,  which  was 
many  miles  away,  and  to  resume  the  quest  at 
daybreak  the  following  morning.  It  turned  out  that 
we  were  even  further  from  home  than  I  thought, 
and  black  night  came  upon  us  before  we  had  covered 
a  quarter  of  the  distance.  Fortunately  the  invalu- 
able Landaalu  had  discovered  a  good  crossing  over 
the  swamp,  so  we  were  able  to  press  on  at  a 
good  pace  without  losing  any  time  in  overcoming 


xxvn     THE  FINDING  OF  THE  NEW  ELAND        309 

the  obstacle.  After  an  hour  or  so  of  hard  travelling, 
we  were  delighted  to  see  a  rocket  go  up,  fired 
by  my  friends  to  guide  us  on  our  way.  Such  a 
sight  is  wonderfully  cheering  when  one  is  far  away 
from  camp,  trudging  along  in  the  inky  darkness  and 
none  too  certain  of  one's  direction  ;  and  a  rocket 
equipment  should  invariably  be  carried  by  the 
traveller  in  the  wilds.  Several  more  were  sent  up 
before  we  got  anywhere  near  camp,  and  I  remarked 
to  Landaalu  that  we  must  have  gone  a  very  long 
way  after  the  eland.  "  Long  way,"  he  replied  ; 
"  why,  Master,  we  have  been  to  Baringo  !  "  This 
lake  as  a  matter  of  fact  was  fully  fifty  miles  away. 
When  finally  we  arrived  I  fired  the  ardour  of  my 
companions  by  relating  the  adventures  of  the  after- 
noon and  telling  them  of  the  wonderful  herd  I  had 
seen  ;  and  it  was  at  once  agreed  that  we  should  stay 
where  we  were  for  a  day  or  two  in  the  hope  of 
good  sport  being  obtained. 

As  soon  as  it  was  daylight  the  next  morning  I 
sent  out  a  party  of  our  porters  with  full  instructions 
where  to  find  my  eland,  which  I  was  sure  must 
be  lying  somewhere  in  the  thicket  close  to  the  hill 
from  where  I  had  shot  him  ;  and  very  shortly  after- 
wards we  ourselves  made  a  start.  After  a  couple  of 
hours'  travelling  we  were  lucky  enough  to  catch 
sight  of  a  portion  of  the  herd  of  eland,  when 
we  dismounted  and  stalked  them  carefully  through 


3  io  THE  MAN-EATERS  OF  TSAVO  CHAP. 


the  long  grass.  All  of  a  sudden  one  popped  up  its 
head  unexpectedly  about  fifty  yards  away.  One  of 
my  companions  immediately  levelled  his  rifle  at  it, 
but  from  where  I  was  I  could  see  better  than 
he  that  the  head  was  a  poor  one,  and  so  called 
out  to  him  not  to  fire.  The  warning  came  too 
late,  however,  for  at  that  moment  he  pulled  the 
trigger.  It  was  rather  a  difficult  shot,  too,  as  the 
body  of  the  animal  could  not  be  seen  very  well  owing 
to  the  height  of  the  grass ;  still,  as  the  head 
instantly  disappeared  we  hoped  for  the  best  and  ran 
up  to  the  place,  but  no  trace  of  the  eland  could  be 
found.  Accordingly  we  pushed  on  again  and  after  a 
little  rested  for  a  short  time  under  the  shade  of  some 
trees.  We  had  gone  about  three  miles  after 
resuming  our  search  for  game,  when  one  of  the 
porters  remembered  that  he  had  left  the  water-bottle 
he  was  carrying  at  the  trees  where  we  had  halted,  so 
he  was  sent  back  for  it  with  strict  injunctions  to 
make  haste  and  to  rejoin  us  as  quickly  as  possible. 
Curiously  enough,  this  trifling  incident  proved  quite 
providential ;  for  the  porter  (whose  name  was 
Sabaki),  after  recovering  the  water-bottle,  found 
himself  unable  to  trace  us  through  the  jungle  and 
accordingly  struck  home  for  camp.  On  his  way 
back  he  actually  stumbled  over  the  dead  body  of  the 
eland  which  I  had  shot  the  previous  day  and  which 
the  search  party  I  had  sent  out  in  the  morning  had 


xxvn     THE  FINDING  OF  THE  NEW  ELAND       311 

failed  to  find.  They  were  still  looking  for  it  close 
at  hand,  however,  so  Sabaki  hailed  them  and  they 
at  once  set  to  work  to  skin  and  cut  up  the  animal, 
and  then  carried  it  to  the  camp. 

Meanwhile,  of  course,  we  knew  nothing  of  all 
this,  and  continued  our  hunt  for  game.  Shortly 
after  noon  we  had  a  light  lunch,  and  while 
we  were  eating  it  our  guides,  Uliagurma  and 
Landaalu,  discovered  a  bees'  nest  in  a  fallen  tree 
and  proceeded  to  try  to  extract  the  honey,  of  which 
the  Masai  are  very  fond.  This  interference  was 
naturally  strongly  resented  by  the  bees,  and  soon 
the  semi-naked  youths  ran  flying  past  us  with  the 
angry  swarm  in  full  pursuit.  I  laughed  heartily  at 
Landaalu,  and  chaffed  him  unmercifully  for  allowing 
himself,  a  Masai,  to  be  put  to  flight  by  a  few  bees. 
This  the  jolly  fellow  took  very  good-humouredly, 
saying  that  if  he  only  had  a  jacket  like  mine  he  would 
soon  go  and  get  the  honey.  I  gave  him  my  jacket 
at  once,  and  a  most  comical  figure  he  cut  in  it,  as  it 
was  very  short  and  he  had  practically  nothing  else 
on.  When  the  nest  was  properly  examined,  however, 
it  was  found  that  the  bees  had  eaten  all  the 
honey  ;  so  after  taking  some  photographs  of  our 
guides  at  work  among  the  bees  we  all  pro- 
ceeded homewards,  reaching  camp  about  dusk, 
with  nothing  to  show  for  our  long  day's  hunt. 

We  were   met  by  Sabaki,  who  was    in    a   great 


3i2  THE  MAN-EATERS  OF  TSAVO     CH.  xxvn 


state  of  excitement,  and  who  started  to  explain 
in  very  bad  Swahili  how  he  had  come  across  the 
dead  eland.  Misunderstanding  what  he  said,  I 
told  my  friend  that  Sabaki  had  found  the  eland 
which  he  had  shot  in  the  morning,  and  rejoiced 
heartily  with  him  at  this  piece  of  good  luck.  On 
viewing  the  head,  however,  we  could  not  under- 
stand it,  as  it  was  very  much  bigger  than  the 
one  he  had  fired  at ;  and  it  was  not  till  later 
in  the  evening  when  I  visited  Landaalu,  curled 
up  at  the  camp  fire,  that  the  mystery  was  ex- 
plained. He  greeted  me  by  saying  that  after  all 
we  had  not  gone  to  Baringo  for  nothing  the 
previous  day,  and  on  my  asking  him  what  he 
meant  he  told  me  about  the  finding  of  the  eland, 
taking  it  for  granted  that  I  knew  it  was  mine. 
I  quickly  called  up  Sabaki  and  after  some  trouble 
got  from  him  the  whole  story  of  how  he  had  found 
the  body  close  to  my  little  hillock  and  near  where 
my  men  were  searching  for  it.  So  I  broke  the 
truth  gently  to  my  friend,  who  at  once  acknow- 
ledged my  claim  and  congratulated  me  on  my 
good  fortune. 

How  great  this  good  fortune  was  I  did  not 
know  till  long  after  ;  but  even  then,  when  I  came 
to  examine  the  head  and  skin  carefully,  I  found 
that  they  both  differed  materially  from  those  of 
any  other  eland  that  I  had  ever  seen.  For  one 


THE  NEW  El.AND — T.  oryx  pattencniaiuis. 
[From  a  photograph  by  Rowland  Ward.] 


3i4  THE  MAN-EATERS  OF  TSAVO  CHAP. 


thing,  there  was  no  long  tuft  of  hair  on  the 
forehead,  while  from  the  lower  corner  of  each 
eye  ran  an  incomplete  white  stripe  similar  to, 
though  smaller  than,  those  found  in  the  giant 
eland.  The  sides  of  the  forehead  were  of  a 
reddish  colour,  and  on  the  lower  part  of  the  face 
there  was  a  much  larger  brown  patch  than  is  to 
be  seen  on  the  ordinary  eland.  The  striping  on 
the  body  was  very  slight,  the  chief  markings  being 
three  lines  across  the  withers.  On  my  return  to 
England  in  April,  I  sent  the  head  to  Rowland 
Ward's  to  be  set  up,  and  while  there  it  was 
seen  by  Mr.  R.  Lydekker,  F.R.S.,  of  the  British 
Museum,  the  well-known  naturalist  and  specialist 
in  big  game,  who  wrote  to  tell  me  that  it 
possessed  great  zoological  interest,  as  showing  the 
existence  of  a  hitherto  unknown  race  of  eland. 
Mr.  Lydekker  also  contributed  the  following  notice 
describing  the  animal  to  The  Field  of  September  29, 
1906  : 

"  Considerable  interest  attaches  to  the  head  of  an 
eland,  killed  by  Colonel  J.  H.  Patterson  in  Portu- 
guese1 East  Africa,  and  set  up  by  Mr.  Rowland 
Ward,  on  account  of  certain  peculiarities  in  colouring 
and  markings,  which  indicate  a  transition  from  the 
ordinary  South  African  animal  in  the  direction  of 
the  giant  eland  (Taurotragus  derbianns)  of  the 

1   In  error  for  "  British." 


xxvn     THE  FINDING  OF  THE  NEW  ELAND       315 


Bahr-el-Ghazal  district  and  West  Africa.  In  the 
striped  variety  {Taurotragus  oryx  livingstonianus] 
of  the  ordinary  South  African  eland,  the  whole 
middle  line  of  the  face  of  the  adult  bull  is  uniformly 
dark,  or  even  blackish-brown,  with  a  tuft  of  long 
bushy  hair  on  the  forehead,  and  no  white  stripe 
from  the  lower  angle  of  the  eye.  On  the  other 
hand,  in  the  Sudani  form  of  the  giant  eland  (T.  der- 
bianus  gigas],  as  represented  by  a  bull  figured  by 
Mr.  Rothschild  in  Novitates  Zoologicae  for  1905, 
the  upper  part  of  the  face  has  the  hair  rufous  and 
shorter  than  in  the  ordinary  eland,  while  from  the 
lower  angle  of  each  eye  a  white  stripe  runs  inwards 
and  downwards,  recalling  the  white  chevron  of  the 
kuclu,  although  the  two  stripes  do  not  meet  in  the 
middle  line. 

"In  Colonel  Patterson's  eland  (which  may  well 
be  designated  T.  oryx  pattersoniamis)  there  is  an 
incomplete  white  chevron  similar  to,  although  rather 
smaller  than,  the  one  found  in  the  giant  eland,  while 
'only  a  narrow  stripe  in  the  middle  line  of  the  face, 
above  and  between  the  eyes,  is  dark-brown,  the 
sides  of  the  forehead  being  rufous.  On  the  lower 
part  of  the  face  there  is  a  larger  dark-brown  area 
than  in  the  ordinary  eland,  although  there  is  a 
rufous  fawn-coloured  patch  on  each  side  above 
the  nostril.  In  both  the  latter  respects  Colonel 
Patterson's  specimen  recalls  the  giant  eland, 
although  it  apparently  lacks  the  dark  white- 
bordered  band  on  the  side  of  the  neck,  characteristic 
of  the  latter.  If  all  the  elands  from  that  part  of 
Portuguese  East  Africa  where  Colonel  Patterson's 


316  THE  MAN-EATERS  OF  TSAVO     CH.  xxvn 


specimen  was  obtained  turn  out  to  be  of  the  same 
type,  there  will  be  a  strong  presumption  that  the 
true  and  the  giant  eland,  like  the  various  local  forms 
of  giraffe  and  bonte-quagga,  are  only  races  of  one 
and  the  same  species.  While,  even  if  the  present 
specimen  be  only  a  '  sport '  (which  I  consider  un- 
likely), it  will  serve  to  show  that  the  southern  and 
northern  elands  are  more  nearly  related  than  has 
hitherto  been  supposed." 

As  my  eland  thus  proved  to  be  of  some  con- 
siderable scientific  value,  and  as  the  authorities  of 
the  British  Museum  expressed  a  desire  to  possess 
its  head,  I  gladly  presented  it  to  the  Trustees,  so 
that  all  sportsmen  and  naturalists  might  have  an 
opportunity  of  seeing  it  at  the  Natural  History 
Museum  at  South  Kensington,  where  it  now  is. 


THOMSON'S  GAZELLE. 


APPENDIX 


WAR    CANOE   ON    LAKE    VICTORIA    NYANZA,    NKAR   THE    RIl'ON    KAI.LS. 


APPENDIX 


i. 

SPORTSMEN  who  think  of  visiting  British  East  Africa  on 
a  shooting  trip  may  be  glad  of  a  few  general  hints  on 
points  of  interest  and  importance. 

The  battery,  to  be  sufficient  for  all  needs,  should  consist 
of  a  '450  express,  a  '303  sporting  rifle,  and  a  12-bore  shot 
gun  ;  and  I  should  consider  250  rounds  of  '450  (50  hard 
and  200  soft),  300  rounds  of '303  (100  hard  and  200  soft), 
and  500  12-bore  shot  cartridges  of,  say,  the  6  and  8  sizes, 
sufficient  for  a  three  months'  trip.  Leather  bandoliers  to 
carry  50  each  of  these  different  cartridges  would  also  prove 
very  useful. 

A  couple  of  hundred  rockets  of  various  colours  should 
certainly  be  taken,  as  they  are  invaluable  for  signalling  to 
and  from  camp  after  dark.  These  can  be  obtained  so  as  to 
fire  from  a  12-bore  shot  gun  or  from  a  short  pistol,  and 


320 


APPENDIX 


some   should    always    be    left    with    the    camp    neopara 
(Headman)  for  use  as  occasion  requires. 

The  rifles,  cartridges,  and  rockets  should  be  consigned  to 
an  agent  in  Mombasa,  and  sent  off  from  London  in  tin- 
lined  cases  at  least  a  month  before  the  sportsman  himself 
intends  to  start.  It  must  be  remembered  that  the  Customs 


PREPARING    BREAKFAST    IN    CAMP. 


House  at  Mombasa  charges  a  10  per  cent,  duty  on  the 
value  of  all  articles  imported,  so  that  the  invoices  should 
be  preserved  and  produced  for  inspection. 

The  hunter's  kit  should  include  a  good  pith  sun-hat, 
a  couple  of  suits  of  khaki,  leather  gaiters  or  a  couple  of 
pairs  of  puttees,  wash-leather  gloves  to  protect  the  hands 
from  the  sun,  and  two  pairs  of  boots  with  hemp  soles  ; 
long  Norwegian  boots  will  also  be  found  very  useful.  The 


APPENDIX 


usual  underclothing  worn  in  England  is  all  that  is 
required  if  the  shooting  is  to  be  done  in  the  highlands.  A 
good  warm  overcoat  will  be  much  appreciated  up-country 
in  the  cool  of  the  evenings,  and  a  light  mackintosh  for  wet 
weather  ought  also  to  be  included.  For  use  in  rocky  or 
thorny  country,  a  pair  of  knee  and  elbow  pads  will  be 
found  invaluable,  and  those  who  feel  the  sun  should  also 
provide  themselves  with  a  spine-protector.  The  latter  is  a 
most  useful  article  of  kit,  for  although  the  air  may  be  pretty 
cool,  the  sun  strikes  down  very  fiercely  towards  midday. 
A  well-filled  medicine  chest  should  of  course  not  be 
forgotten. 

A  good  field  glass,  a  hunting  and  skinning  knife  or  two, 
and  a  Kodak  with  about  200  films  should  also  be  carried. 
With  regard  to  the  last  item,  I  should  strongly  advise  all 
who  intend  to  take  photographs  on  their  trip  to  pay  a  visit 
to  Mr.  W.  D.  Young  on  arriving  at  Nairobi.  He  is  an 
enthusiastic  photographer,  and  will  gladly  give  advice  to 
all  as  to  light  and  time  of  exposure  ;  and  as  these  are  the 
two  points  which  require  most  attention,  hints  from  some 
one  of  experience  in  the  country  are  most  useful.  I 
myself  am  much  indebted  to  Mr.  Young's  kindly  advice, 
and  I  am  sure  I  should  not  have  achieved  much  success  in 
my  pictures  without  it.  I  made  it  a  practice  on  my  last 
visit  to  the  country  to  send  him  the  exposed  films  for 
development  whenever  I  reached  a  postal  station,  and  I 
should  recommend  others  to  do  the  same,  as  films 
deteriorate  rapidly  on  the  voyage  home  ;  indeed  I  had 
nearly  four  hundred  spoiled  in  this  way,  taken  when  I  was 
in  the  country  in  1898-99. 

As  regards  camp  equipment,  all  that  need  be  taken  out 
from  England  are  a  small  double-fly  tent,  three  Jaeger 
blankets,  a  collapsible  bath,  a  Wolseley  valise,  and  a  good 
filter  ;  and  even  these  can  be  obtained  just  as  good  locally. 
Chop  boxes  (food)  and  other  necessary  camp  gear  should  be 


322  APPENDIX 


obtained  at  Mombasa  or  Nairobi,  where  the  agents  will 
put  up  just  what  is  necessary  ;  personally,  I  found  Messrs. 
Newland  and  Tarleton  of  the  latter  place  very  reliable. 
About  a  month  before  sailing  from  England  a  letter 
should  be  sent  to  the  agents,  stating  the  date  of  arrival  and 
what  porters,  etc.,  will  be  required.  The  sportsman  will 
then  find  everything  ready  for  him,  so  that  an  immediate 
start  may  be  made. 

Unless  money  is  no  object,  I  should  not  advise  anyone 
to  engage  porters  at  Mombasa,  as  equally  good  men  can 
be  obtained  at  Nairobi,  thus  saving  20  rupees  per  head  in 
return  railway  fares.  It  must  be  remembered  that  for 
transport  work  men  are  infinitely  preferable  to  donkeys, 
as  the  latter  are  exasperatingly  slow  and  troublesome, 
especially  on  rough  ground  or  on  crossing  streams,  where 
every  load  has  to  be  unpacked,  carried  over,  and  then 
reloaded  on  the  animal's  back.  The  caravan  for  one 
sportsman — if  he  intends  going  far  from  the  railway — is 
usually  made  up  as  follows,  though  the  exact  numbers 
depend  upon  many  considerations  : 

i  Headman 50  rupees l  per  month. 

i  Cook 35 

i  Gun-bearer  20        „  „ 

1  "  Boy "  (personal  servant)..  20        „  „ 

2  Asian's  (armed  porters)...  12         „  „  each. 
30  Porters 10        „             „  each. 

The  porters  are  all  registered,  the  Government  taking  a 
small  fee  for  the  registration  ;  and  according  to  custom 
half  the  wages  due  for  the  whole  trip  are  advanced  to  the 
men  before  a  start  is  made.  The  sportsman  is  obliged  to 
provide  each  porter  with  a  jersey,  blanket  and  water-bottle, 

1  The  rupee  in  British  East  Africa  is  on  the  basis  of  15  to  the 
£i  sterling. 


APPENDIX  323 


while  the  gun-bearer  and  "  boy  "  get  a  pair  of  boots  in 
addition.  A  cotton  shelter-tent  and  a  cooking  pot  must 
also  be  furnished  for  every  five  men. 

The  food  for  the  caravan  is  mostly  rice,  of  which  the 
Headman  gets  two  kibabas  (a  kibaba  is  about  \\  Ib.)  per 
day ;  the  cook,  gun-bearer,  "  boy  "  and  askaris  one  and  a 
half  kibabas,  and  the  ordinary  porters,  one  kibaba,  each 
per  day. 

It  is  the  duty  of  the  Headman  to  keep  discipline  on  the 
safari  (caravan  journey),  both  in  camp  and  on  the  march, 
and  to  see  to  the  distribution  and  safety  of  the  loads,  the 
pitching  and  striking  of  camp,  the  issue  of  posho  (food)  to 
the  porters,  etc.  He  always  brings  up  the  rear  of  the 
caravan,  and  on  him  depends  greatly  the  general  comfort 
of  the  sportsman.  For  our  trip  at  the  beginning  of  1906, 
we  managed  to  secure  a  splendid  neopara,  and  never  had 
the  least  trouble  with  the  porters  all  the  time.  His  only 
drawback  was  that  he  could  not  speak  English,  but  he  told 
me  when  he  left  us  that  he  was  going  to  learn.  Anybody 
securing  him  as  Headman  will  be  lucky  ;  I  cannot 
remember  his  real  name,  but  he  was  always  known  as 
M'zay,  and  could  easily  be  found  by  this  name  at 
Mombasa. 

The  cook  is  also  an  important  member  of  the  caravan, 
and  a  good  one  should  be  procured  if  possible.  It  is 
wonderful  what  an  experienced  native  uipeshi  (cook)  can 
turn  out  in  the  way  of  a  meal  in  a  few  minutes  after  camp 
is  pitched. 

As  gun-bearer,  most  hunters  prefer  a  Somali.  I  have 
never  tried  one,  but  am  told  that  they  are  inclined  to  be 
troublesome  ;  they  certainly  rate  themselves  very  highly, 
and  demand  about  four  times  as  much  wages  as  an  equally 
good  Swahili. 

In  camp,  the  duties  of  the  askaris  are  to  keep  up  the  fire 
and  watch  at  night,  and  to  pitch  and  strike  the  Bwanas 

Y   2 


APPENDIX 


(Master's)  tent.  On  the  march  one  leads  the  caravan,  the 
other  brings  up  the  rear  ;  they  give  assistance  in  the  event 
of  any  trouble  with  the  loads,  see  that  no  desertions  take 
place,  allow  no  straggling,  and  generally  do  what  they  can 
to  protect  the  caravan.  They  are  each  armed  with  an  old 
snider  rifle  and  10  rounds  of  ball  cartridge,  and  are  gene- 


VIEW    IN    THE    KENYA    PROVINCE. 


rally  very  dangerous  men  to  their  friends  when  they  take 
it  into  their  heads  to  fire  their  weapons. 

The  ordinary  porters  will  carry  their  6o-lb.  loads  day  in 
and  day  out  without  complaint,  so  long  as  they  are  well 
fed  ;  but  stint  them  of  their  rice,  and  they  at  once  become 
sulky  mutineers.  In  addition  to  carrying  the  loads,  they 
pitch  and  strike  camp,  procure  firewood  and  water,  and 
build  grass  huts  if  a  stay  of  more  than  a  day  is  intended  to 
be  made  at  one  place.  On  the  whole,  the  Swahili  porter  is 


APPENDIX  325 


one  of  the  jolliest  and  most  willing  fellows  in  the  world, 
and  I  have  nothing  but  praise  for  him. 

It  may  be  that  our  sportsman  intends  to  confine  his 
shooting  trip  to  the  neighbourhood  of  the  railway  ;  in  this 


"A   FLYING   VISIT   IN   A   RICKSHAW   TO   KAMPALA." 

case,  the  best  plan  is  to  hire  one  of  the  special  carriages 
from  the  Traffic  Manager  of  the  Uganda  Railway.  These 
carriages,  which  have  good  sleeping,  cooking,  and  bath 
accommodation,  can  be  attached  to  almost  any  train,  and 
moved  from  station  to  station  or  left  standing  in  a  siding 
at  the  directions  of  the  hunter.  This  is  the  cheapest  and 


326 


APPENDIX 


most  comfortable  way  of  spending  a  short  time  in  the 
country,  as  no  tent,  camp  equipment,  or  regular  porters  are 
required  ;  and  some  quite  good  sport  can  be  obtained  into 
the  bargain. 

Again,  if  the  hunter  intends  shooting,  say,  in  the  Kenya 


"  Cl.AD    IN    LONG    KI.O\V1.N<;   COTTON   GARMENTS.' 


Province,  as  many  porters  as  he  requires  may  be  obtained 
from  the  official  in  charge  at  Fort  Hall.  The  pay  of  the 
Kikuyu  porter  in  such,  circumstances  is  only  t\vo  annas 
a  day,  while  he  provides  his  own  food ;  neither  is  the 
sportsman  asked  to  furnish  him  with  a  blanket,  jersey,  and 


APPENDIX  327 


water-bottle  so  long  as  he  is  not  taken  out  of  his  own 
Province.  Each  Province  is,  in  fact,  governed  as  regards 
porters  by  its  own  special  conditions,  which  can  easily  be 
ascertained  on  arrival  in  the  country. 

There  are  various  lines  of  steamers  sailing  to  Mombasa- 
The  steamers  of  the  German  East  Africa  Line  {Deutsche 
Ost-Afrika  Linie)  sail  from  Marseilles  or  Naples.  The 
voyage  takes  about  eighteen  days  from  Marseilles.  The 


JIXJA. 


single  fare  (First-Class)  is  £42  IDS.  The  return  is  double 
the  ordinary  fare,  less  10  per  cent.  The  Messageries 
Maritimes,  sailing  from  Marseilles,  take  about  seventeen 
days.  The  First-Class  fare  from  London  is  £45  ;  return, 
available  for  two  years,  is  £67  los.  The  British  East 
Africa  Line  sails  from  London  about  once  a  month.  The 
voyage  takes  longer  by  this  route,  but  the  fare  is  much 
cheaper,  being  only  £20  First-Class  ;  while  those  who  are 


328 


APPENDIX 


not  pressed  for  time  would  probably  enjoy  calling  in  at 
the  various  ports  en  route. 

Fairly  good  hotel  accommodation  can  be  had  at  both 
Mombasa  and  Nairobi. 

Before  any  shooting  can  be  done  it  is  necessary  to  take 


"  RUSHING   OVER   THE    RIPON    FALLS." 


out  a  Game  License  (costing  the  sum  of  .£50),  which  may 
be  obtained  without  difficulty  at  either  of  these  two  centres. 
This  license  imposes  an  obligation  on  the  sportsman  to 
make  a  return  before  he  leaves  the  country  of  every 
animal  shot  by  him.  By  obtaining  a  special  Game  License, 


APPENDIX 


329 


one  bull  buffalo,  one  bull  eland,  and  one  bull  giraffe  may 
be  killed  in  addition  to  the  animals  covered  by  the  ordinary 
license.  A  fee  of  £5  is  charged  for  each  of  these  bulls  ; 
this  must  be  paid  in  advance,  and  is  forfeited  whether  the 
animals  are  afterwards  killed  or  not.  This  fee  of  .£15  in 


"THE   MIGHTY    RIVER   STRETCHING   AWAY  TO  THE  NORTH 
AMID  ENCHANTING  SCENERY." 

all   is,   of  course,  additional   to   the   £$O  for  the  ordinary 
license. 

Fairly  good  maps  of  the  country  may  be  obtained  at 
Stanford's,  Long  Acre,  W.C.,  while  the  Game  Laws  and 
Regulations  can  be  procured  from  the  Colonial  Office  in 
Downing  Street. 


330  APPENDIX 


Passenger  trains  leave  Mombasa  at  1 1  a.m.  on  Mondays, 
Wednesdays,  and  Fridays,  and  are  timed  to  arrive  at 
Nairobi  at  11.15  next  morning  and  at  Kisumu  (the  railway 
terminus  on  Lake  Victoria  Nyanza)  at  9  o'clock  on  the 
morning  following.  The  First-Class  return  fares  from 
Mombasa  to  Nairobi,  Kisumu  and  Entebbe  are  92,  164], 
and  213!  rupees  respectively. 

It  is  unnecessary  to  specify  district  by  district  where 
particular  species  of  game  are  to  be  found,  for  the  sports- 
man can  easily  learn  this  for  himself  and  get  the  latest 
news  of  game  movements  on  his  arrival  at  Mombasa.  As 
a  matter  of  fact,  the  whole  country  abounds  in  game,  and 
there  cannot  be  lack  of  sport  and  trophies  for  the  keen 
sliikari.  The  heads  and  skins  should  be  very  carefully 
sun-dried  and  packed  in  tin-lined  cases  with  plenty  of 
moth-killer  for  shipment  home.  For  mounting  his  trophies 
the  sportsman  cannot  do  better,  I  think,  than  go  to  Rowland 
Ward  of  Piccadilly.  I  have  had  mine  set  up  by  this 
firm  for  years  past,  and  have  always  found  their  work 
excellent. 

I  consider  that  £400  should  cover  the  entire  cost  of  a 
three  months'  shooting  trip  to  East  Africa,  including 
passage  both  ways.  The  frugal  sportsman  will  doubtless 
do  it  on  less,  while  the  extravagant  man  will  probably 
spend  very  much  more. 

Should  time  be  available,  a  trip  to  the  Victoria  Nyanza 
should  certainly  be  made.  The  voyage  round  the  Lake  in 
one  of  the  comfortable  railway  steamers  takes  about  eight 
days,  but  the  crossing  to  Entebbe,  the  official  capital  of 
Uganda,  can  be  done  in  seventeen  hours,  though  it  usually 
takes  twenty-seven,  as  at  night  the  boats  anchor  for 
shelter  under  the  lee  of  an  island.  The  steamer  remains 
long  enough  in  Entebbe  harbour  to  enable  the  energetic 
traveller  to  pay  a  flying  visit  in  a  rickshaw  to  Kampala,  the 
native  capital,  some  twenty-one  miles  off.  I  spent  a  most 


APPENDIX  331 


interesting  day  last  year  in  this  way,  and  had  a  chat  with 
the  boy  King  of  Uganda,  Daudi  Chwa,  at  Mengo.  He  was 
then  about  nine  years  old,  and  very  bright  and  intelligent- 
He  made  no  objection  to  my  taking  his  photograph,  but  it 
unfortunately  turned  out  a  failure. 

It  is  curious  to  find  the  Baganda  (i.e.,  people  of  Uganda) 
highly  civilised — the  majority  are  Christians — surrounded 
as  they  are  on  all  sides  by  nations  of  practically  naked 
savages ;  and  it  is  a  very  interesting  sight  to  watch  them 
in  the  "  bazaar "  at  Kampala,  clad  in  long  flowing  cotton 
garments,  and  busily  engaged  in  bartering  the  products  of 
the  country  under  the  shade  of  tattered  umbrellas.  Un- 
fortunately the  great  scourge  of  the  district  round  the 
shores  of  the  Lake  is  the  sleeping  sickness,  which  in  the 
past  few  years  has  carried  off  thousands  of  the  natives,  and 
has  quite  depopulated  the  islands,  which  were  once  densely 
inhabited.  The  disease  is  communicated  by  the  bite  of  an 
infected  fly,  but  happily  this  pest  is  only  found  in  certain 
well-defined  regions,  so  that  if  the  traveller  avoids  these 
he  is  quite  as  safe,  as  regards  sleeping  sickness,  as  if  he 
had  remained  in  England. 

On  the  return  journey  from  Entebbe,  Jinja,  a  port  on  the 
north  side  of  the  Victoria  Nyanza,  is  usually  called  at. 
This  place  is  of  great  interest,  as  it  is  here  that  the  Lake 
narrows  into  a  breadth  of  only  a  few  hundred  yards,  and, 
rushing  over  the  Ripon  Falls,  forms  the  long-sought-for 
source  of  the  Nile.  The  magnificent  view  of  the  mighty 
river  stretching  away  to  the  north  amid  enchanting  scenery 
is  most  inspiring,  and  one  can  well  imagine  how  elated 
Speke  must  have  felt  when,  after  enduring  countless  hard- 
ships, he  at  last  looked  upon  it  and  thus  solved  one  of  the 
great  problems  of  the  ancients. 


II 

The  following  is  a  literal  translation  of  the  Hindustani 
poem  referred  to  on  p.  103: — 

IN    THE   NAME    OF   ALLAH,   THE    MERCIFUL,    THE 
COMPASSIONATE  : 

First  must  I  speak  to  the  praise  and  glory  of  God,  who 
is  infinite  and  incomprehensible, 

Who  is  without  fault  or  error,  who  is  the  Life,  though 
without  body  or  breath. 

He  has  no  relatives,  nor  father  nor  son,  being  himself 
incomparable  and  passionless. 

His  is  the  knowledge  of  the  known  and  of  the  unknown, 
and  although  without  a  tongue,  yet  does  he  speak  in 
mighty  tones. 

I,  Roshan,  came  to  this  country  of  Africa,  and  did  find 
it  indeed  a  strange  land  ; 

Many  rocks,  mountains,  and  dense  forests  abounding  in 
lions  and  leopards  ; 

Also  buffaloes,  wolves,  deer,  rhinoceroses,  elephants, 
camels,  and  all  enemies  of  man  ; 

Gorillas,  ferocious  monkeys  that  attack  men,  black 
baboons  of  giant  size,  spirits,  and  thousands  of  varieties  of 
birds ; 

Wild  horses,  wild  dogs,  black  snakes,  and  all  animals 
that  a  hunter  or  sportsman  could  desire, 


APPENDIX  333 

The  forests  are  so  dark  and  dreadful  that  even  the 
boldest  warriors  shrink  from  their  awful  depths. 

Now  from  the  town  of  Mombasa,  a  railway  line  extends 
unto  Uganda  ; 

In  the  forests  bordering  on  this  line,  there  are  found 
those  lions  called  "  man-eaters,"  and  moreover  these  forests 
are  full  of  thorns  and  prickly  shrubs. 

Portions  of  this  railway  from  Mombasa  to  Uganda  are 
still  being  made,  and  here  these  lions  fell  on  the  workmen 
and  destroyed  them. 

Such  was  their  habit,  day  and  night,  and  hundreds  of 
men  fell  victims  to  these  savage  creatures,  whose  very  jaws 
were  steeped  in  blood. 

Bones,  flesh,  skin  and  blood,  they  devoured  all,  and  left 
not  a  trace  behind  them. 

Because  of  the  fear  of  these  demons  some  seven  or  eight 
hundred  of  the  labourers  deserted,  and  remained  idle ; 

Some  two  or  three  hundred  still  remained,  but  they  were 
haunted  by  this  terrible  dread, 

And  because  of  fear  for  their  lives,  would  sit  in  their 
huts,  their  hearts  full  of  foreboding  and  terror. 

Everyone  of  them  kept  afire  burning  at  night,  and  none 
dared  to  close  his  eyes  in  sleep  ;  yet  would  some  of  them 
be  carried  away  to  destruction. 

The  lion's  roar  was  such  that  the  very  earth  would  trem- 
ble at  the  sound,  and  where  was  the  man  who  did  not  feel 
afraid  ? 

On  all  sides  arose  weeping  and  wailing,  and  the  people 
would  sit  and  cry  like  cranes,  complaining  of  the  deeds  of 
the  lions. 

I,  Roshan,  chief  of  my  people,  also  complained  and 
prayed  to  God,  the  Prophet,  and  to  our  spiritual  adviser. 

And  now  will  I  relate  the  story  of  the  Engineer  in 
charge  of  the  line. 

He  kept  some  ten  or  twenty  goats,  for  the  sake  of  their 
milk  ; 


334  APPENDIX 


But  one  night  a  wild  beast  came,  and  destroyed  them 
all,  not  one  being  left. 

And  in  the  morning  it  was  reported  by  the  watch- 
man, who  also  stated  that  the  man-eater  was  daily 
destroying  the  labourers  and  workmen,  and  doing  great 
injury  ; 

And  they  took  the  Engineer  with  them  and  showed  him 
the  footprints  of  the  animal. 

And  after  seeing  what  the  animal  had  done,  the  English- 
man spoke,  and  said, 

"  For  this  damage  the  lion  shall  pay  his  life." 
And  when   night  came  he    took   his    gun   and  in  very 
truth  destroyed  the  beast. 

Patterson  Sahib  is  indeed  a  brave  and  valiant  man,  like 
unto  those  Persian  heroes  of  old — Rustem,  Zal,  Sohrab 
and  Berzoor  ; 

So  brave  is  he,  that  the  greatest  warriors  stood  aghast 
at  his  action  ; 

Tall  in  stature,  young,  most  brave  and  of  great  strength 
is  he. 

From  the  other  side  of  the  line  came  the  noise  and  cries 
of  those  who  complained  that  these  savage  beasts  were 
eating  and  destroying  men, 

For  such  has  been  the  habit  of  lions  from  time 
immemorial,  and  groups  of  people  have  fallen  victims  to 
their  fury. 

Those  who  were  proud  or  boastful,  have  but  sacrificed 
their  lives  uselessly ; 

But  to-day  Patterson  Sahib  will  watch  for  the  lion 
himself! 

For  the  people  have  complained  loudly,  and  the  valiant 
one  has  gone  forth  with  his  gun  into  the  forest. 

Soon  after  the  people  had  retired  at  night  to  their  tents, 
the  fearless  lion  made  his  appearance  ; 

Patterson  Sahib  loaded  both  barrels  of  his  gun  and  went 
forth  against  him. 


APPENDIX  335 


He  fired  many  times  in  succession  and  totally  paralysed 
the  animal. 

The  lion  roared  like  thunder  as  the  bullets  found  their 
way  to  his  heart. 

This  Englishman,  Patterson,  is  most  brave,  and  is  indeed 
the  very  essence  of  valour  ; 

Lions  do  not  fears  lions,  yet  one  glance  from  Patterson 
Sahib  cowed  the  bravest  of  them. 

He  fled,  making  for  the  forest,  while  the  bullets  followed 
hard  after  him  ; 

So  was  this  man-eater  rendered  helpless  ;  he  lay  down 
in  despair, 

And  after  he  had  covered  a  chain's  distance,  the  savage 
beast  fell  down,  a  corpse. 

Now  the  people,  bearing  lights  in  their  hands,  all  ran  to 
look  at  their  dead  enemy. 

But  the  Sahib  said  "  Return,  my  children  ;  the  night  is 
dark,  do  not  rush  into  danger." 

And  in  the  morning  all  the  people  saw  the  lion  lying 
dead. 

And  then  the  Sahib  said,  "  Do  not  think  of  work  to-day 
—make  holiday,  enjoy  and  be  merry." 

So  the  people  had  holiday  and  made  merry  with  friends 
from  whom  they  had  been  long  parted,  on  account  of  the 
lion  : 

And  the  absence  of  those  who  had  run  away  was 
forgiven,  and  their  money  allowed  them — 

A  generous  action,  comparable  to  the  forgiveness  of  God 
and  the  Prophet  to  sinners  and  criminals  on  the  day  of 
judgment. 

Oh  !  poet,  leave  this  kind  of  simile,  it  is  too  deep  for 
thee  ; 

We  mortals  have  the  Devil,  like  unto  a  fierce  lion,  ever 
after  us  ; 

Oh !  Roshan,  may  God,  the  Prophet,  and  your  spiritual 
adviser,  safeguard  you  day  and  night  ! 


336  APPENDIX 


One  lion,  however,  remained,  and  for  fear  of  him  all  went 
in  dread  ; 

Sixteen  days  passed,  all  being  well,  and  everyone  enjoyed 
a  peaceful  mind  ; 

But  again,  on  the  seventeenth  day,  the  lion  appeared 
and  remained  from  sunset  to  sunrise. 

He  kept  on  roaming  about  in  the  neighbourhood  like  a 
general  reconnoitring  the  enemy's  position. 

On  the  following  day  the  Sahib  sent  for  the  people 
and  warned  them  all  to  be  careful  of  their  lives  ; 

"  Do  not  go  out  from  the  afternoon  even  until  the 
following  morning,"  he  said. 

Now  this  was  the  night  of  SIiab-i-Kadr,  a  Muslim 
festival  : 

And  at  night  \vhen  all  had  retired  to  rest,  the  lion  came 
in  a  rage, 

And  Patterson  Sahib  went  forth  into  the  field  to 
meet  him. 

And  when  he  saw  the  beast,  he  fired  quickly,  bullet  after 
bullet. 

The  lion  made  a  great  uproar,  and  fled  for  his  life,  but 
the  bullets  nevertheless  found  a  resting-place  in  his  heart. 

And  everyone  began  to  shriek  and  groan  in  their  uneasy 
sleep,  jumping  up  in  fear,  when  unexpectedly  the  roaring 
of  the  lion  was  heard. 

All  thought  of  sleep  was  banished,  and  fear  came  in  its 
place : 

And  the  Sahib  gave  emphatic  orders  that  no  one  should 
go  out,  or  roam  about. 

And  in  the  morning  we  followed  the  marks  of  blood 
that  had  flowed  from  the  wounded  animal, 

And  some  five  or  seven  chains  away,  we  found  the  lion, 
lying  wounded  and  in  great  pain. 

And  when  the  Sahib  saw  the  animal  he  fired  bullets 
incessantly  ; 


APPENDIX 


337 


But  when  the  lion  saw  the  Sahib,  the  savage  animal, 
burning  with  rage  and  pain, 

Came  by  leaps  and  bounds  close  to  the  Sahib  ; 

But  here  he  was  to  meet  his  match  in  a  brave  Sahib  who 
loaded  his  gun  calmly,  and  fired  again  and  again,  killing 
the  beast. 

All  the  Punjaubis  assembled  together  and  agreed  that 
the  Sahib  was  a  man  who  appreciated  and  cared  for  others, 
so  much  so  that  he  roamed  about  in  the  forests  for  our 
sake,  in  order  to  protect  us. 

Previously,  many  Englishmen  had  come  here  to  shoot 
but  had  been  disappointed, 

Because  the  lion  was  very  courageous  and  ferocious, 
and  the  Sahibs  were  afraid  ; 

But  for  the  sake  of  our  lives,  Patterson  Sahib  took 
all  this  trouble,  risking  his  own  life  in  the  forest. 

So  they  collected  many  hundreds  of  rupees,  and  offered 
it  as  a  present  to  the  Sahib,  because  he  had  undergone 
such  peril,  in  order  to  save  our  lives. 

Oh  !  Roshan,  all  the  people  appeared  before  the  Sahib 
saying,  "  You  are  our  benefactor  "  ; 

But  the  Sahib  declined  to  accept  the  present,  not  taking 
a  pice  of  it. 

So  then  again  the  Punjaubis  assembled,  and  consulted  as 
to  how  the  service  that  the  Sahib  had  done  them  could 
most  suitably  be  rewarded. 

And  it  was  agreed  to  send  all  the  money  to  England,  in 
order  that  it  might  be  converted  into  some  suitable  present, 

Which  should  bear  an  engraving  of  the  two  lions,  and 
the  name  of  the  mistari^  head  of  the  workmen. 

The  present  should  be  such,  and  so  suitably  decorated, 
as  to  be  acceptable  to  Patterson  Sahib  ; 

In  colour  it  should  resemble  moon  and  sun  ;  and  that 
would  indeed  be  a  fit  present,  so  that  the  Sahib  would  be 
pleased  to  accept  it. 

1   Foreman-mason. 

Z 


338 


APPENDIX 


Oh!  Roshan,  I  hope  that  he  will  accept  this  present  for 
shooting  the  lions,  as  some  small  reward  for  his 
action. 

My  native  home  is  at  Chajanlat,  in  the  thana  of  Domli, 
which  is  in  the  district  of  Jhelum,  and  I  have  related  this 
story  as  it  actually  occurred. 

Patterson  Sahib  has  left  me,  and  I  shall  miss  him  as  long 
as  I  live,  and  now 

Roshan  must  roam  about  in  Africa,  sad  and  regretful. 

Composed  by  Roshan  itiistari,  son  of  Kadur  mistaii 
Bakhsh,  native  of  the  village  of  Chajanlat,  Dakhli,  Post 
Office  Domli,  district  of  Jhelum.  Dated  29th  January, 
1899. 


WA    KIKUYU    WARRIORS. 


2.55 
P3. 


THE  LIBRARY 
UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 

Santa  Barbara 


THIS  BOOR  IS  DUE  ON  THE  LAST  DATE 
STAMPED  BELOW. 


nrpn 


JUN?  19882, 


AIIG8  1988 

REIDAUG9   198810 


3  1205  00837  3191 


UC  SOUTHERN  REGIONAL LIBRARY  FAC    ITY 


A     000580912     4